You're Not The Only One
by ChibiLover123
Summary: Sasuke's OLDER twin sister has a special Sharingan, who joins Squad 7 and goes through the Land of Waves, the Chuunin Exams, and a chance encounter with someone she never thought she'd see again... NarutoOC
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A young girl of seven was walking through Konoha as the sun began to set, its golden light playing in her dark brown/black hair. She had a side swept bang covering her right eye and some of her cheek, while the rest of her delicate curls were held in a ponytail. Her blue/white eyes looked around with a wary gaze, looking for her nii-san. She had just gotten away from her twin brother, and was trying to stay away. She was the older by an hour, but he was annoying when he started talking about how boys were better than girls. She was starting to relax when she heard cries of pain, and her eyes snapped back into focus as she located the sound coming from the playground. 

She ran with ninja speed, having trained for three or four years now, and saw a group of kids beating a small boy her age. Anger flashed in her almost white eyes as she ran low, punching the leader of the small group in the face, making him fly away. "Stop hurting him! What has he done to you?" She questioned angrily. "Get out of the way, girl!" A boy yelled. "I'm not moving! I'm not letting you hurt him anymore!" "Like you can fight all of us!" An older boy said. She took out some kunai, saying, "Try me." 

The kids seemed unnerved by the kunai, and the boy looked at her with confusion. Suddenly, she smirked, putting away the kunai. "…Guess you have someone else to worry about…" "What are you talking about-" They stopped when they noticed a presence behind them. She smiled, saying, "Hello, Itachi-nii-san. Back from your mission so soon?" The kids froze, and they turned to see Itachi, still in his ANBU uniform, with an emotionless expression on his face. "What were you going to do to Ayumi?" He questioned, and the kids were scared stiff. She smiled wider, saying, "Apparently, they were going to take me on." "Really?" 

The kids were so scared they ran off, and Ayumi turned around to help the boy up. "Are you okay?" She questioned, gently lifting him up. He nodded. She smiled sweetly, saying, "My name's Ayumi Uchiha. What's yours?" "…Naruto Uzumaki…" "Naruto…well, Naruto-san, you should be more careful around those kids." She turned to Itachi, saying, "Thanks for the help, nii-san." "No problem." "Where's Sasuke-nii-san? PLEASE say he's not looking for me…" "If I did, I'd be lying…" She sighed, saying, "…How can we be twins, yet be total opposites? Life's weird…" 

She focused her attention back on Naruto, saying, with a sweet smile, "Want to go get some Ramen with me?" He nodded, and she said, "Nii-san, can you tell mom and dad I'll be out with a friend for a while?" "Sure…" "Arigato." She said, walking with Naruto towards Ichiraku's as she waved goodbye to Itachi. 

Naruto asked, quiet, "We're…friends?" "Of course! You're acting like you've never had a friend…" He hung his head, and her gaze softened. "It's okay…you have a friend now!" They reached the Ramen shop by that time, and she sat down, ordering. "Come on, Naruto! Order something!" He sat down next to her, and the Ramen came. When she broke the chopsticks and started eating, she heard a familiar voice yell, "Ayumi-nii-chan!" "PLEASE tell me that's not Sasuke…" She whispered, but it wasn't so. 

Sasuke sat next to her saying, "Where'd you go before?" "Away from you…" She mumbled under her breath, but she said, louder, "I just went for a walk. You just didn't notice." "Okay…why are you here, anyway? Who's that?" He started throwing millions of questions at her, and she covered his mouth. "When I remove my hand, you can ask three questions. ONLY three. Okay?" He nodded, and she removed her hand. "Who's that?" "My friend, Naruto." "Why are you here?" "Because I like Ramen…duh!" "Why'd you leave me before?" "I needed some breathing space…though I only got it for ten minutes…" She smiled, saying, "Anyway, YOU should get home, or mom and dad will get mad." 

Sasuke understood, and left quickly. "…Sucker…" She giggled, and turned to Naruto, saying, "So…what do you want to do when you're older?" "…I want to be Hokage…" "Really? That's great! I don't want to be anything so glamorous…just a powerful shinobi…" "Why?" "I'm going to prove that kunoichi can be as powerful or even MORE powerful then shinobi." After talking for a while, she finished her Ramen, paying for all of it, and said, "Goodbye, Naruto-san! See you tomorrow!" She walked home, savoring the silence until she opened her front door. 

"Ayumi-nii-chan's home!" "Hell can't be NEARLY as loud as this…" she mumbled, taking off her sandals and walking inside. 

She saw everyone in the living room, and smiled, saying, "Hi mother, father." They nodded, and her mother got up, hugging her. She hugged back, until Sasuke tackled her from behind. "OW!! How many times do I have to tell you to think before you force the air out of my lungs?!" She said, breathing deeply. "Sorry, nii-chan…" "Yeah, yeah…you can get off of me now." He got off, and she sat up, rubbing the back of her head. She turned to her mother with a questioning look, asking, "We're TWINS? Are you sure I'm not Itachi's twin or something…? Maybe I belong to a different family…" 

Her mother laughed, saying, "Trust me, after all I went through, you're Sasuke's twin and you ARE part of this family." "Man! I thought I found a way out…" She said in a teasing voice, and her mother laughed more. Ayumi stood, taking a white rose from her backpack. It was in perfect order, no bent petals or broken stems. "I got you this, mom. You told me they were your favorites…" "They are. They mean 'innocent love'." Ayumi smiled as her mother took it, smiling. "Arigato, Ayumi." She nodded, and said, "I'm going to bed…I already ate." She left quickly, so Sasuke couldn't follow her, and went into her room. 

Well, technically, it wasn't HER room. It was the kid's room. It was hers, Sasuke's, AND Itachi's. It basically meant NO privacy and always catching Sasuke reading her diary. She suspected Itachi of having done it once or twice, but she never got any proof…She grabbed her pajamas, and went to take a shower. After spending the best half hour of her life relaxing, she came out, dried off, and put on her dark blue silk nightdress…she had nothing else, so she was planning on threatening Sasuke so he wouldn't tell when she went into her…THE room. She was about to go to sleep when someone asked, "Is something wrong, nii-chan?" 

She practically jumped in her skin. Her heart was beating wildly, battering her ribcage, and she said, placing a hand on her heart, "Don't EVER do that again, Itachi! I almost had a heart attack! Warn someone before you accidentally kill them!" "Avoiding the question…" "Nothing's wrong…happy?" She said, getting into bed. She noticed that Itachi didn't usually talk a lot with other people, but she always had whole conversations with him. People found it strange that she was the only one let in, but she found it normal…this was her brother, someone she lived with…both her brothers were…different…especially Sasuke… 

"Something's wrong…what is it?" She sighed, knowing he wasn't going to stop asking until she answered or Sasuke ran in, and sat up.  
"I keep…having nightmares…" "About what?" "…I see someone slaughtering…everyone…mom, dad, Sasuke…" She averted her eyes, "You…" Before she could continue, Sasuke ran in, doing a Superman jump onto his bed. She sighed, shifting under the covers, and turned to face the wall. Before she could fall asleep, she heard Sasuke whisper, "I found her diary again!" "Really?" 

She didn't move until she heard pages flipping, and shot up in bed, saying, "Caught you!" She saw both brothers looking at her, the diary between them. She glared, grabbing the book, and shoving it under her pillow. "You should know it takes me forever to fall asleep…" She said, lying down. Finally, when her brothers decided to go to sleep, she relaxed, allowing sleep to shadow her mind…and the nightmare began…


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She saw the bodies strewn about the ground, kunai lodged in buildings and bodies, and the blood of her closest family covering her hands. "Mom…dad…Sasuke-nii-san…Itachi-nii-san…" Tears were running down her cheeks, mixing with the blood on her face. "They're gone…they're gone…because I couldn't protect them…" She felt herself being pulled out of the nightmare and saw Itachi shaking her awake. 

She shot up in bed, a cold sweat moistening her skin and tears still on her cheeks. She still felt faint sobs wracking her chest and throat as her heart beat painfully. "Nii-chan…calm down…" She closed her eyes, letting the tears out, and gripping the covers tight. "Are you okay?" She felt her heartbeat slow down, stopping its painful hammering on her ribcage, and the sobs died away slowly. She wiped away the tears with the back of her hand, before saying, "I…I think so…" "What happened?" He questioned, getting a wet cloth and putting it on her forehead. 

"…It was my nightmare again…" She held the cloth on her forehead, and noticed Itachi looked ready to go somewhere. "Where are you going?" "Nii-san wants me to help him throw kunai." "Can I come? I want to show you guys how good I got!" "Sure." She smiled, swinging her legs off the bed, and stood up. "Are you sure you're okay?" "I'm positive!" She changed into a black tank top with the Uchiha fan on the back and dark jean shorts before going outside. 

She went to the targets, and waited for Itachi to come with Sasuke. "God! Sasuke, you're way too slow…" "No I'm not!" "God, little brothers are SO annoying…" "WE'RE TWINS!!!" "But I was born first." She said, smiling. "By an hour!" "An hour makes all the difference." Before the fight could escalate any further, Itachi said, "Didn't we come to train, not verbally attack each other?" "You're right, nii-san. I'll go first." Ayumi said, taking out kunai and shuriken. "You won't be able to do it." Sasuke said, not believing in her. 

She jumped into the air, throwing the weapons quickly, and with deadly accuracy. When she landed, all of the weapons hit the center of every target, and she said, smirking, "Didn't you say I couldn't do it?" Sasuke's mouth was hanging open a moment, but he shut it, saying, "I can do that! Easy!" "Then do it." She stepped back. He took the spot, and tried. He really tried, but he didn't hit a couple targets, and Ayumi knew he was going to land on his foot wrong. "Nii-san!" She tried to catch him, but it was too late. He twisted his ankle. "Are you okay, nii-san?" she questioned, worried. 

She kneeled by him, putting a hand on his back. She sighed, knowing it was her fault, and said, "I'm…sorry, nii-san…" "Sorry? For what?" He questioned, giving her a confused look. "I shouldn't have pushed you to do it. Because of me…you got hurt…" "It's okay. It doesn't hurt that bad…" She smiled, and helped him stand, with his arm around her shoulders. Itachi offered to carry Sasuke on his back, and they were soon heading home again. Ayumi said, "Nii-san…when you're a ninja, do you always lose lives?" "Not always, but it can happen…" "How do you prevent it?" 

Itachi looked at her a moment, asking, "Why do you want to know, nii-chan?" Ayumi's gaze flickered to Sasuke, and she said, "…I don't know if I can protect the people closest to me…" After a moment of silent walking, Itachi said, "You just need to be as strong as you can be. There's nothing else you CAN do." They walked in silence until they reached the house. After their mother helped Sasuke with his ankle, their father called them. When they were all sitting before him, their father said, "Because of Itachi's important mission tomorrow, I'll be accompanying him." 

Ayumi's heart sank as she thought, 'But what about the Academy Entrance Ceremony…?' She didn't say anything, but almost anyone could see the disappointment in her blue/white eyes. ALMOST anyone..."Then it's decided." Ayumi sighed, her eyes downcast and sad. She'd been looking forward to her father going to the Entrance Ceremony, but...life was unfair sometimes. "Actually, father, I'm going to their Entrance Ceremony instead." Ayumi perked, looking at Itachi with innocent, questioning eyes. "But this mission could make you an ANBU captain!" Their father protested. "A relative is required to go to the ceremony. I know Ayumi and Sasuke told you." 

"Okay...I get the hint. I'll go to the Entrance Ceremony." Ayumi beamed, happy again, and smiled gratefully at Itachi. When they were outside the room, she hugged him, saying, "Arigato, nii-san! Arigato!" Sasuke was just as happy, and Ayumi said, "Let's go play a board game...at least you won't get hurt again..." After glaring at her, all three siblings went to the living room, and spent the rest of the day playing games and having fun...something Ayumi would remember for the rest of her life...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day, Ayumi stood proudly in front of Sasuke as the ceremony started, and listened intently to the Third Hokage's words. As the ceremony was coming to a close, she turned around to look at her father, a proud smile on her face, but she noticed Sasuke didn't seem nearly as happy. Her smile faltered slightly, and she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He seemed to feel better, and the ceremony was over. They went to their father, who was talking to a sensei. "Well! Who are these young ones?" The man questioned. 

"I'm Ayumi. This is my nii-san, Sasuke." "Your children?" Their father nodded, saying, "Yes. These are the twins." "Let me guess which is stronger...it's probably this little guy..." He said, ruffling Sasuke's hair. Ayumi's temper flared, and she looked away, obviously insulted. "Actually...Ayumi is the stronger and older of the two." Their father explained. "Oh...I never would have guessed..." "I'm not surprised." Ayumi muttered darkly, receiving a small smack to the back of her head. 

She rubbed the spot, saying, "Well...a lot of people make that mistake..." "That's true...kunoichi aren't known for being stronger than shinobi." She glared icily, her eyes steely, as she said, "I'll be fixing that. My goal is to show that kunoichi can be just as good, and better, than shinobi." Her father sighed, saying, "I think we should head back home, don't you agree, Ayumi?" She could tell it was a demand, but she was feeling rebellious. "Actually, I want to stay...maybe meet up with some friends...we don't have to go home so soon." She said, smiling innocently, but she had a rebellious look in her eyes as she walked away, looking for Naruto. 

"...A rebellious one, I see." The man commented. "Sometimes she has too much free will. I'll need to change that." Her father said as he followed her, with a worried Sasuke behind him. After a couple more hours, they were finally home, and Ayumi was ordered to the room. She was sitting on her bed, reading, when her father came in. She put the book down, and he said, darkly, "Why do you insist on disobeying me?" "Because you can't control me." She said stubbornly. 

"When I tell you to do something, you should do it!" "But you didn't tell me to do anything. You ASKED me a question." The next moment, he had slapped her across the face so hard that neither person heard the door open. "If you didn't have the Ayaka Sharingan, you'd be useless! You should be happy for what you have!" "What do I have?! Why can't you let me be myself?! Every time I act like myself, you scold me! Am I supposed to be a slave, someone with no will of their own? I refuse to do that!" 

Before he could smack her again, a hand grabbed his wrist. "Father, what are you doing?" Itachi questioned, lowering his father's arm. "Nothing...just some disciplining." He left then, and Ayumi glared at him defiantly, rubbing her stinging cheek. "What did you do, nii-chan?" Itachi asked, looking at her cheek. "I just talked back...its not that bad..." "How can you always smile when this happens to you?" "After a while, you just look for the good in life. I have a lot of things I love. Sasuke, Naruto, you..." She smiled. "And that's what keeps me going." 

"I don't understand why he hits you..." "Because he wants me to be something I'm not..." "And what's that?" "...Perfect..." There was a moment of silence before Sasuke walked in. "Nii-chan, what happened?" He questioned, seeing her cheek. "Nothing, nii-san. It doesn't even hurt..." She sat up straighter, and Sasuke shrugged it off, going to his bed. Ayumi smiled, and stood. "I'm going to take a shower..." She left, thinking, 'If I can't be myself, then who can I be?'


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ayumi was heading home after a couple hours of training, and just wanted to relax...when she noticed three policemen go to her front door. Curious, she hid on the roof, and heard Itachi open the door. She heard them talk about the death of Shisui Uchiha, which made her gasp silently, and heard the hidden meaning of their words. 'They think Itachi did it?' she thought, moving to see more clearly, when Itachi quickly defeated them. "Nii-san?" She questioned, and she saw him freeze. She jumped off the roof, asking, "Nii-san...what are you doing?" He didn't say anything as she walked closer. "Itachi-nii-san...is something wrong?" 

Before he could answer, her father asked, "What's going on?" Ayumi froze, and her father repeated the question. The men explained, and her father said, "I don't know what to do..." "Father, don't be so hard on him. He's been stressed out from ANBU missions, and they accused him without evidence. He just got mad, father." "Don't get into other peoples business, Ayumi." "This is my nii-san, father. It IS my business." She said stubbornly. He gave her a look saying that he was going to punish her later, but she didn't care. "Fine...I'll keep an eye on him from now on..." The men reluctantly agreed, and their father walked inside. 

Ayumi looked at Itachi with an innocent, curious gaze before noticing Sasuke at the front door. "Nii-san..." Ayumi sighed, and forced a smile, going up to Sasuke. "Come on, nii-san. We can practice with our shuriken out back." Sasuke nodded, his eyes still wide, but she eventually led him out back, casting another questioning gaze over her shoulder at Itachi. They practiced for a couple hours, when her father called her into his study. She walked slowly, dragging her feet as she walked in, closing the door. "Ayumi...you're my daughter, and as my daughter, you must obey me." 

She looked at him stubbornly, wondering what he was getting at. "You go to school, become a powerful shinobi, marry a man of my choosing..." "Since when?" She questioned. "I'm going to marry whoever I want. You can't choose who I fall in love with!" He smacked her so hard she fell to the floor. "You WILL do as I say! You WILL marry whoever I say to." A lone tear ran down her cheek as she said, "I guess being myself isn't enough for you..." She looked up at him defiantly, "But it's enough for me. If you don't like who I am, then too bad!" He tried to kick her, but she dodged, standing. 

"Why can't you just accept who I am?!" She yelled, wiping the lone tear away. "You're supposed to be who I tell you to be!" "Screw that idea! I'm a human being, and I can make my own decisions!" He smacked her again, and she said, "Do your worst...you can't break me." He was about to try just that when the door opened. "Father...that's enough." Itachi said, walking in. Their father said nothing as he left. Ayumi rubbed her cheek, cursing darkly under her breath. "Who teaches you those words?" Itachi questioned. "Nobody...I just pick them up..." 

After a moment, Itachi said, "Come on...we'd better go eat." "Fine..." They went to the dinner table, and Ayumi sat as far away as she possibly could from her father. When her mother put her food in front of her, she smiled, saying, "Arigato." She ate quickly, and washed her dishes before heading to the shared room. She sat on the bed, thinking, 'If Naruto had parents, I wonder what they would be like...' She changed into her pajamas and snuggled deeply under the covers. She started falling asleep, knowing the nightmare would soon take hold, and almost welcomed it with open arms. Anything was better than what she was going through...sometimes, she wished her father was dead...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

She woke up earlier than usual, and Itachi said, "Ayumi, I need you to do something..." "What?" She questioned, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I need you to come home late today, okay?" "Why?" "...It's important that you do this for me, nii-chan." "Okay...I'll do it." She smiled, looking out the window. "It's pretty early...I might as well get ready." "I need to go." "See you later, Itachi-nii-san." She changed into a light gray t-shirt and black pants, with the Uchiha fan on the back. 

She gathered together all of her school stuff, putting it into her backpack, and woke up Sasuke. "Nii-san! You need to get up! I don't want to be late..." He finally woke up, and Ayumi went to the bathroom. She washed her face, did her hair, and brushed her teeth before going downstairs. She got the cereal down as her mother came in. "Hi, mom!" Ayumi said cheerfully, giving her mom a kiss on the cheek. She ate her breakfast as Sasuke came down, and washed her bowl. When she was completely ready, she said, "Mom..." Her mother turned to her from the stove, and Ayumi hugged her, saying, "I love you so much! You know that...don't you?" 

"Of course! I love you, too." They stayed like that a moment before Sasuke said, "I'm ready!" Ayumi released her mother, saying, "Goodbye!" They left quickly, and she was walking through the streets...when her nightmare flashed before her eyes, making them widen and her heart race. The whole day, she felt something bad was going to happen. After school, Naruto took her to Ichiraku's, and they had a great time. Sasuke was training, so she didn't have to worry about him. After finishing a couple bowls, 

Ayumi settled with just talking. The sun had already set a while ago when she said, "I should head home, Naruto-san. See you tomorrow!" She said, smiling, as she walked off. She was walking home with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, saying something happened. It made her run the rest of the way, and nothing seemed out of place, except..."Why are all the lamps off? It's too early for everyone to be asleep..." She walked around, until she turned a corner. Her nightmare flashed through her eyes as she saw the bodies strewn on the ground, kunais impaling buildings and bodies...she felt a scream building in her throat, threatening to escape her lips, when a thought occurred to her. 

'What about Sasuke and Itachi?' 

She started running towards her house, and dropped her backpack in the front, seeing Sasuke's there, and ran in. She looked around, and heard a scream from the end of the hall. She ran towards the door, yelling, "Sasuke-nii-san!" She was about to open the door when Sasuke ran out, scared. She looked at him, confused, until she looked in the room. Her parents bodies were there, covered in blood. Tears started rolling down her cheeks as she said, "Mom...dad...MOM!! DAD!!" She couldn't believe it...they were dead...'Sasuke...' she ran after Sasuke, her vision blurred by her tears, and saw Sasuke on the floor, shaking with fear. A kunai was racing toward him, and she unknowingly activated the Ayaka Sharingan, hitting the kunai away. 

The Ayaka Sharingan was a pale red/white with the pupil and commas a dark red/black color. "Nii-san, are you okay?" She questioned. She turned to see him shaking with fright, but it didn't seem to be from the kunai. It didn't seem he even noticed she was there...She turned to the attacker, and her eyes widened as tears filled them.   
"Itachi-nii-san?" Sasuke said, "He killed...all of them..." It felt like a million kunai had pierced her heart at the same time. "You didn't...you couldn't..." She was in denial. "Why did you...do it?" 

He didn't answer, and she said, louder, "WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!" "It was for the best..." "What do you mean? You killed...everyone...you almost killed Sasuke-nii-san..." Something occurred to her, and she asked, "Why didn't...you want me to come?" He didn't answer, and she said,  
"You told me to come home late...but what about Sasuke-nii-san? You didn't try to protect him! Why..." She breathed deeply, holding back her tears and sibs. "Why didn't you want to kill me?" He looked away, saying, "You have...promise. You could become a powerful shinobi...and I thought it would be interesting to see." 

"But...why did you kill mom...and dad..." "I thought you wanted dad to die..." "I DIDN'T!" "You seem to forget I read your diary, nii-chan." "I was mad when I wrote that...I didn't mean it...I just wanted him to stop hurting me..." "And he can't hurt you anymore." "But...mom..." "She got in the way." "But...you did...all of this...for me? Or did you do it...for yourself?" "I did it for both of us." He left quickly, saying, "Become a powerful kunoichi." When she couldn't feel his chakra anymore, she fell to her knees, crying heavily, sobs wracking her throat and chest painfully. 

"...I didn't want this! I just...wanted to be loved..." She looked back at Sasuke, and walked over, hugging him. He cried into her shirt, and she cried, too. 'I won't...try to kill Itachi...he's still my nii-san...but I'll protect Sasuke with my life...even if it kills me...'


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

She cried for days after, and never smiled. Naruto helped her through it, and she stopped crying around him, knowing it hurt him, and let out her sadness in private. She was at the memorial stone, sitting behind it, crying again. "What's wrong?" A king voice questioned. She looked up to see a man in his twenty's, with silver hair and a mask covering the lower half of his face. "Nothing's wrong..." She said, trying to stop sobbing. "It's okay. My name's Kakashi Hatake. What's yours?" ""Ayumi Uchiha..." "Now I see why you're upset...Come with me." 

He lifted her up onto his back, and she wiped away her tears. He carried her to the Uchiha complex, and said, "They're never really gone. They're always in your heart, and as long as you remember them, they're right there with you. If you need time to just think about them, just come here...it helps get the feelings off your chest." She held on tight, asking, "Why do shinobi kill?" "To protect what is precious to them." "...But, someone precious to me did...all of this..." "Itachi?" She nodded, saying, more tears coming to her eyes, "Yes. He's my nii-san..." "You still see him as your nii-san?" "Of course! No matter what he does, he'll always be my nii-san...I could never hate him...kill him...Sasuke wants to..." "You're different. Family is family to you." "But...it's partly my fault that it happened..." "How?" "...Father would...get mad at me for being...me...and he'd hit me...one day, I was mad, and wrote in my diary that I wished he was dead...I didn't mean it, but Itachi read it...we were close..." "You still are." 

She looked at Kakashi, confused. "As long as you remember him as he was, it'll be like he never left..." She smiled, asking, "It's like you know exactly how I feel...thank you, Kakashi-san." He smiled underneath his mask, and said, "No problem." She slid off his back, and said, "I wish things had turned out differently..." "Why weren't you there when it happened?" 

"Itachi told me to stay out late that night, but I came back earlier." Kakashi was silent a moment before saying, "We need to go to the Hokage for a sec, okay?" She nodded, and he poofed them in with a jutsu. The Third said, "Why, Ayumi!" "Hokage-sama." She said, smiling very slightly. "Hokage-sama…you said that someone would have to be her guardian…" "Yes. Are you interested?" "Well, she does have the Sharingan. We already know each other pretty well…" The Third asked, "Ayumi, do you want Kakashi to take care of you?" 

She smiled brightly for the first time in days, and said, "Yes!! YES-YES-YES-YES-YES-YES-YES!!!" "I guess she's your responsibility now, Kakashi." "I'll do my best, Hokage-sama."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It had been five years, and Ayumi and Sasuke were twelve. Ayumi was the happy twin now, while Sasuke was quiet and mature. She was mature when she needed to be, but otherwise…she was like a second Naruto. She was sitting at the desk across from Sasuke, eyes closed, leaning back in her chair. She'd been training with Kakashi over the past five years, and had easily passed the Genin test. She noticed Sasuke's fan girls come in, and said, smiling, "Looks like your fan clubs here, nii-san." 

"And so is yours." He said with a smirk. Her smile disappeared as she noticed her fan boys coming in through the door as well. "I hate boys…" She muttered, putting a book in front of her face. She heard a familiar voice say, "Hey, Ayumi-chan!" "Hey, Naruto-kun!" She said, putting down the book and smiling. Naruto was pushed aside by Sakura, who wanted to sit next to Sasuke. Ayumi got an anime sweat drop as she said, "Abusive fan girl in the building. Watch out, Naruto. You might lose your head." Naruto was mad, and stood on Sasuke's desk, glaring at him. Ayumi sighed, closing her eyes, when she heard a collective silence. She opened her eyes to see them accidentally kissing. 

She was quiet…until the laughter building in her throat was too great and she nearly fell off the chair. The boys separated, Naruto yelling, "POISON!! MY MOUTH IS RUINED!!!" and Sasuke yelling, "NARUTO!! YOU LOSER, YOU'RE DEAD!!!" Ayumi's laughter was heard above the yells, and Sasuke said, "IT'S NOT FUNNY, NII-CHAN!!" Ayumi said, between laughs, "Oh…it's not funny…THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!!" She was laughing uncontrollably again, and Naruto said, "IT WASN'T FUNNY, AYUMI-CHAN!!" "I'm…sorry, Naruto-kun, but…you have to admit that was hilarious…" He pouted, saying, "No it isn't…" "Fine, don't believe me…" "Fine, then I won't." 

"Fine." "Fine." "Fine!" "Fine!" "Fine!!" "Fine!!" "FINE!!!" "FINE!!!" At that moment, as Sasuke looked at the two like they were idiots, Iruka came in.  
"Okay…we're splitting you up into groups of three…except for one group, which has four members." Everyone was silent as Iruka read off the names. "Squad 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno," Naruto cheered as Sakura drooped. "Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto drooped as Sakura cheered, "And Ayumi Uchiha." Sakura's eyes widened as she asked, "You two are related?" "Of course! We're twins! We better be related, after all the pain we put our mother through." Ayumi said with a smile. 

When all the teams were called out, Iruka said, "Okay, go wait for your new sensei." Soon, only Naruto, Ayumi, Sasuke, and Sakura were left. Ayumi was sitting on Iruka's desk, swinging her legs back and forth. Naruto paced, until Ayumi said, "Naruto-kun, before you wear a hole in the floor, do something productive." "What? And swinging your legs is productive?" "It's better than defacing public property." She countered teasingly. After a long time, Naruto put an eraser on the door, and Ayumi sighed, saying, "Naruto, this is a JOUNIN, not a complete moron. Nobody is going to fall for-" At that moment, Kakashi opened the door, having the eraser hit his head, "-that." Ayumi finished. 

She stood, saying, "Kakashi-san, I thought you were a Jounin. Do you always fall for stupid things like that?" "No." He said indignantly. "Wait…you know him?" Sakura asked. "Yeah. He's my guardian. Kakashi Hatake." "Is he the one that's always training you?" Naruto questioned. Ayumi nodded, saying, "Yep." "Yeah, but she has a problem with taking orders…" "You know perfectly well why I don't!" Ayumi said icily. "Okay, okay! Don't have a mood swing!" Kakashi said. "Okay!" She said, brightening. "Well…let's go on the roof to talk…" 

Ayumi was already at the door, asking, "Are you coming or not?" "It's freaky…how she always knows what's going to happen next…" Sakura said. "She's…special…" Kakashi said, following Ayumi. "Does he mean something's wrong with her or she's really special." "He means she's really special!" Naruto said, leaving as well, with Sasuke behind him. After a moment, Sakura followed them as well. Once on the roof, Kakashi said, "Okay, let's start off with some introductions." He started, then Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke went. Ayumi didn't really listen, already knowing what Sasuke and Naruto were going to say, and guessing what Sakura was going to say. 

"Ayumi-chan! It's your turn!" Naruto said. "Oh…okay. My name is Ayumi Uchiha. I like animals and training. I dislike fan boys and fan girls. My hobbies are…training, helping woodland creatures, and…annoying family." She smiled as Sasuke glared at her slightly and Kakashi sighed. "My dream is to become a powerful kunoichi and show that girls can be just as strong…and stronger…than boys." "I know…you've told me for six years." Kakashi said, standing. Now that we've done that…you'll be taking a test tomorrow." Ayumi perked, asking, "What's this test?" 

"You'll see tomorrow. Oh…and one more thing…" Everyone listened intently as he said, "Don't eat breakfast tomorrow…or you'll puke." Ayumi sighed, sitting back. "Well…I guess it wouldn't hurt for one day…" she said, uncertain. "Well, that's all for today. See you tomorrow." "Bye, Kakashi-san!" Ayumi said, waving slightly as he left. "I'm going to train. See you guys later." She said, waking to the door. "Bye, Ayumi-chan." Naruto said, not stirring from his spot. "Bye, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-nii-san." Sasuke waved slightly as she walked downstairs. She went to the training ground, and walked up to a stump. She breathed out slowly, and started pummeling the stump with kicks and punches. 

Suddenly, images of what happened that horrible night and what her father had done flashed before her eyes, and her hits became more brutal, harder. Her knuckles began to bleed, and her legs grew sore, but she ignored the pain. Before the pain could take over, she punched the stump as hard as she could, and her fist went straight through the wood. She pulled her fist out, nursing it against her chest. She walked home, and Kakashi looked up as she walked in. "What did you do to your hands?" He questioned, seeing the blood drip onto the floor. "Training…" She said, grabbing the first-aid kit and sitting down at the table. She washed the wounds, gritting her teeth in pain as she sprayed on the disinfectant. 

She tried to wrap her knuckles, but it proved…more difficult than she thought it would. Kakashi took the bandages from her, wrapping her knuckles. "…Thanks…" She said, as he tied the bandages. "Why do you hurt yourself?" "So I don't hurt others." Before he could question any further, she stood, saying, "I'm not hungry…I'm going to take a shower…" and left. She stripped her clothes off, letting them fall on the floor, and stepped into the shower. The water was steamy and soothing, and she sighed. The stinging had died away in her knuckles, and she said, "If I want to be powerful…will I have to do what nii-san did? Kill people close to me? If that's the only way to fulfill my dream…I don't think I could do it…" 

After finishing her shower, she dried off, changing into pajamas, and went to her room. The room was actually HERS, and she was happy. She crawled into bed, whispering, "Maybe some rest will help me relax…" As she drifted to sleep, she felt depression weigh down on her shoulders. 'Four weeks…until the anniversary…' she thought, finally falling asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Wake up! Come on, Ayumi!" Ayumi slowly awoke to Kakashi's yelling. "Five more minutes!" she yelled back, covering her head with a pillow. "Come on! You don't want to be late!" "I don't care!" He appeared at her door, saying, "Get up already!" She threw a pillow at him, yelling, "Let me sleep!" Before flopping back down on the bed. 

"Do you really want them to wait?" "They'll live." "You wouldn't want to FAIL, now would you?" She sat up slowly, eyeing him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?" "If you don't go, I'll have to fail you." Before he was even done speaking, she had grabbed a white tank top and jean shorts before running to the bathroom. She changed quickly, putting her hair up, and ran back out, pulling her shoes on. She grabbed her weapons and blades before tying her headband around her forehead. Her blades were handles, with the blade coming out of one end and running parallel with her forearm until her elbow. 

"Come ON, Kakashi!" She yelled, putting her blades on her belt before running downstairs. She grabbed a few breakfast bars before looking behind at Kakashi. "Can you BE any slower?" She questioned, grabbing his arm and pulling him with her. "Why are we rushing? We're already late…" "WHAT!?!" She was running, dragging him behind her, and they made it to the bridge in a fraction of the normal time. "What took you guys so long?" Naruto questioned, walking towards them. "Ask…him…" Ayumi said between breaths, pointing at Kakashi. 

"So…what's this test about, sensei?" Sakura questioned, walking up with Sasuke. "We need to go to the training ground…" Kakashi noticed Ayumi had her hands stuck in her pockets, refusing to pull them out, but didn't question it. When they got there, Sakura saw the stump Ayumi had been pummeling the day before, and gasped at the hole going straight through it. "What…did THAT?!" She asked, surprised. Kakashi looked at Ayumi, who wanted to run, and said, "Ask Ayumi." "Why?" Sakura asked, looking at Kakashi with curiosity. 

"Because…I did it…" Ayumi said, taking her hands out of her pockets and taking off the bandages. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the scars and cuts overlapped over her knuckles. "What did you do? Punch through wood?!" Ayumi's gaze flickered to the stump as she said, "You could say that…" "You PUNCHED THROUGH wood?!" Naruto exclaimed, eyes wide. "Kinda…" "Why do you do this to yourself?" Sasuke questioned, his eyes narrowing. "It was…kind of an accident…" "How was it an accident?" He pressed. "I really wasn't thinking…and I was angry…and I didn't feel the pain until I snapped out of it…" She said, giving a weak smile. 

"That's a horrible excuse." He retorted. "Like you could think of something better!" She snapped back. "Actually, I could." "You're annoying for a little nii-san, you know that." "I'm only younger by an hour!" "But I'm older by an hour, and that's all that matters." She said with a sly smile. "You're a moron…" "But I'm YOUR moron!" she said, her smile widening. "I hate you!" "I know you don't mean it! You love me!" "No I don't…" "Stop lying to yourself." "I'm not…" "You're lying to yourself again." "At least I'm not hurting myself…" "At least I'm not out for my nii-san's blood…" She retorted, making this serious. 

Kakashi's visible eye widened and he was about to stop the fight when Sasuke said coldly, "At least I care enough about our family to avenge them!" Ayumi's eyes widened, and Naruto said, "Teme! You don't understand…" "D-Do you…really think that, n-nii-san?" Sasuke looked at her, noting the unfamiliar stutter, and saw her eyes were shiny with tears. 'Shit.' He thought. "I…really care for them…I was heartbroken when they died…and I didn't want to lose you, too…do you really think I'm that selfish? That I'd let the past stop me from mourning they're passing? Nii-san…I just don't want to experience that feeling again…" Naruto walked up to her, saying, "its okay, Ayumi-chan…just…don't cry…" 

She choked back the sobs, saying, "I-I won't…" Naruto looked at her with a worried expression. She hadn't cried for six years. She hadn't even teared up. 'To have someone say that about you…especially someone so close to you…it must hurt…' he thought. Kakashi sighed, and walked over, wrapping up her hands. "Are you going to be okay, Ayumi?" He questioned as he worked. She nodded, saying, "I'll be fine, Kakashi-san…" "Okay…" He looked at her uncertainly before saying, to everyone, "We'll be having a bell test. I have three bells. The ones that are able to steal a bell from me pass…and get a lunch." Their stomachs rumbled, and Ayumi said, "You woke me up late on purpose…" 

He smiled underneath his mask, saying, "Maybe…" "Teme…" She said under her breath as he tied the bandages.  
"Okay, if you're all ready, let's start." He said, standing and taking out his book. A vein pulsed in Ayumi's head, but she quickly disappeared, watching from a safe perch in a tree. She saw Naruto fight Kakashi, and winced in sympathy when Kakashi used A Thousand Years of Pain. 'Yeah…for your ass!' she thought, feeling bad for her friend, but moved lower down, ready to attack, when she heard a strange whimpering sound. 

She followed the sound, and soon saw a wolf cub, barely two months old, lying on the ground in pain. She approached, but stopped when it looked up at her, frightened. "Shhhh….it's okay…I'm not going to hurt you…I just want to help…" She knew that it couldn't understand, but a soothing voice seemed all the wolf cub really wanted. It relaxed, and she moved closer. She kneeled next to it, looking at it for a moment, a reassuring hand on the cub's head, and noticed that it didn't move its right forepaw. She sighed, and took out some extra bandages and wrapped the foot tightly. She then took out a breakfast bar, and slowly fed the wolf cub. 

Afterwards, she ate a breakfast bar, with the cub on her lap, happily sleeping. When she was done, she carefully lifted the cub, realizing it was a SHE, and started walking again. After a while, she saw Sasuke buried up to his neck and an unconscious Sakura. Her eye twitched as she said, "I can practically SEE what happened here…" "Can you help me, nii-chan?" She looked at him coldly, but sighed, saying, "Sometimes, I'm too nice…" Sasuke already knew she'd help him out, and it was confirmed when she walked over, and started digging him out with a kunai. 

When he was finally out, she said, "Sasuke…I need to tell you something important…" He looked at her, obviously listening. "I don't like shedding blood for no reason…or for revenge…revenge is something that eats away at us…turns us into something ugly…something we've always hated…I don't want to end up like that, and I don't want that to happen to you, either." After a moment of silence, she asked, "Can you watch her for me?" He nodded, taking the cub, and she smiled, saying, "Arigato!" Before leaving. 

She soon found Kakashi, and took out some kunai. She threw them before silently slipping into the shadows, and coming at him from behind, her blades nearly slashing him in half. He blocked with a kunai, and she tried to kick him in the stomach. He blocked with his other hand, and she used one hand to reach for a bell. She almost had one when he kicked her away. She flew back, and she wrapped her arms around her stomach, saying, "You didn't need to hit me so hard…" She then positioned the blades in front of her in a defensive pose, but ran at him. 

He dodged a deadly slice, and she did rapid hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!" The attack seemed to hit him, but she'd trained with him enough to know he wasn't defeated. She looked around for him calmly, and activated the Ayaka Sharingan a moment before suddenly deactivating it and spinning around, blocking his kunai. She smirked, saying, "I don't think I've shown you this jutsu…" She jumped back, throwing her blades into the air as she did some hand signs. She landed on her feet, catching the blades as she said, "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" Her blades started glowing with her chakra, and it looked like wind was starting to form around them. 

She ran at Kakashi, but stopped in front of him, slashing the blades just in front of his abdomen. The wind and chakra from the blades smacked into him, sending him into a tree, and she smirked, running over, when he poofed. She cursed rather loudly, and Kakashi asked, "Who teaches you those words?" Ayumi, feeling nostalgic lately, was reminded of Itachi by that familiar question, but fought the tears, saying, "I just pick them up." She took out a kunai, throwing it at him before running at him. He knocked the kunai off course, and their weapons locked. "Where'd you learn a wind jutsu?" He questioned, curious. 

"I just learned it…I don't remember where…" She kicked him in the side of the knee, and almost had a bell when a ringing entered her ears. "Time's up." Kakashi said with a smile. "No fair!" Ayumi said with a childish pout, but followed Kakashi. They soon regrouped with the others, and Sasuke handed over the wolf cub. "What's that?" Kakashi questioned. "Can I keep her? Please!!" "No." "Please!!!" "No!" "PLEASE!!!" "Fine…but YOU'RE picking up after her!" "Okay!" She said, happy. "I'll name her…Hara." "Wilderness…that's a good name for a wolf cub." Kakashi said. 

Ayumi smiled, until she noticed Naruto was tied to a stump. "Why is Naruto tied to a stump?" "He tried to eat the lunches." Ayumi turned to Naruto. "How could you do that…" Everyone else tensed, ready to stop her from pummeling Naruto, "…without me?!" Everyone else did an anime fall, and Naruto said, "I couldn't find you…" "That's a horrible excuse!" "Déjà vu…" Sasuke commented, smirking, as Ayumi turned to glare at him. "Okay! Okay! Let's stop this before someone gets hurt." Kakashi said, trying to calm them. 

After making them take seats beside Naruto, with Hara on Ayumi's lap, Kakashi said, "Well…none of you are going back to the Academy…" Naruto and Sakura thought that they had passed, but Ayumi could tell he wasn't finished, and waited silently. "…Instead, I'm dropping you from the program…permanently." Ayumi's heart felt like it was trying to come out her mouth as she said, "YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!!" "Why didn't we pass?!" Naruto yelled, not about to give up. "It should be obvious." After a moment of thought, Ayumi said, "We wouldn't have been able to get a bell by ourselves, with the obvious difference in strength and experience…" realization dawned on her, "…but we outnumber him, so we should have worked together to get the bells." 

"But there are three bells, and four of us, which would mean one of us wouldn't get a bell, and the squad would break up." Sakura said. "But you should have been able to put the team before yourselves." Kakashi said. Ayumi sighed, asking, "Can you give us another chance? Please?" Hara even gave him the puppy-dog eyes, and he said, "Okay…you have two hours to get these bells from me, and you can eat lunch now, but Naruto doesn't get any." "Why not?!" Naruto yelled, indignant. "Because you tried to eat without the others." Kakashi said matter-of-factly before leaving. Ayumi opened a lunch, but noticed how hungry Naruto looked. 

"Naruto-kun…you can have mine." Naruto looked at her, wide-eyed, as she held out the lunch. "But…what about you, Ayumi-chan?" "I already ate something earlier. It'll last me." She said with a smile. Sasuke and Sakura agreed, and Ayumi got onto her knees. She got some food, feeding it to an immobile Naruto. When he swallowed the food, lightning streaked the sky, and thunder boomed as the sky turned gray with clouds. Kakashi appeared, and he looked angry. "You deliberately disobeyed me. Now you have to pay the price. What's your excuse?" 

"I don't betray my friends." Ayumi said, her eyes icy. "Naruto is my best friend, and I'd do anything for him, just like I'd do anything for Sasuke or Sakura. You can't scare me off." She smirked. "And you know I have a problem with following orders." The others agreed, and Kakashi asked, "That's your excuse?" "It's not an excuse! It's the truth!" Ayumi said defiantly. After a moment, Kakashi smiled, saying, "You pass." As the sky cleared. Ayumi looked at him curiously, asking, "We passed?" Kakashi nodded, and a wide smile spread across her face as she said, "WE PASSED!!!!" 

Everyone was happy, and they started to leave. Naruto, still tied to the stump, yelled, "HELLO!! YOU FORGOT ME!!!" Ayumi giggled, and went to untie him. "Thanks, Ayumi-chan!" He said with a smile, and he went after the others. She smiled, thinking, 'Well, at least it won't be boring…'


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After a few weeks of doing D-ranked missions, Naruto got…mad. "I want to do a REAL mission! I don't want to pick up trash or save cats! I want to do something exciting!" Ayumi sighed as Kakashi pulled Naruto away by the collar. "Hokage-sama…" She said respectfully, bowing slightly, "It would be nice to put our training to good use. I'm not saying to give us an extreme mission, but at least a C-ranked mission. It would appease Naruto, and he won't complain for a while…" "Actually, I have a C-ranked mission you could do…" 

Ayumi's eyes sparkled as she said, "Really?" He nodded, and she smiled, saying, "Arigato, Hokage-sama! What's the mission?" "To escort the master bridge builder, Tazuna, to the Land of Waves." Kakashi said, setting down an appeased Naruto, "We'll take it. Where is Tazuna?" An old man walked in, and Ayumi turned to see him clearly. "Are these kids supposed to protect me?" He asked rudely. Ayumi's gaze turned steely as Kakashi picked an enraged Naruto up by the collar again, saying, "Trust me, they will be able to protect you." 

Ayumi forced a smile, saying, "We'll do our very best, and complete this mission." Naruto agreed, but Tazuna seemed doubtful. They headed out, and it was fairly quiet. Ayumi had been training with Hara, learning a new jutsu, so brought the wolf cub along. "Shouldn't that thing be on a leash?" Tazuna questioned. "Shouldn't you be?" She muttered under her breath, receiving a disciplining glare from Kakashi. "She's not…accustomed to a leash. She's…independent, and doesn't like being led around." She explained, an obviously fake smile on her face. Kakashi sighed, saying, "You could be more respectful…" "I'll do that when he does." Ayumi said, picking up Hara. 

"Then it'll never happen…" Kakashi said under his breath. "So you agree with me." Ayumi said with a sly smile. "I'm not admitting to that." "But you just did." Kakashi seemed slightly frustrated, and asked, "Where'd you learn to play mind games with people?" "My older nii-san did it to me a few times, so I kind of learned off that." Before Kakashi could question her further, she noticed a puddle, and Hara bristled warningly. 'Mist shinobi, eh?' she thought, putting Hara down. When they had walked a couple yards away from the puddle, two Chuunin jumped out, racing at them with clawed hands. 

Ayumi's Ayaka Sharingan flashed for a moment before jumping to the side, and Hara to the other. She saw them catch Kakashi in a strange chain, and rip him apart. "KAKASHI!!!" She was angry now. She did some hand signs before grabbing her blades, saying, "Wing Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" before running at them. She slashed one blade at the closer of the two, who flew into a tree, and was about to spin around to get the other one when he cut her whole left arm with his claws. She winced in pain, gritting her teeth, before slashing both blades at him, making him knock down a tree. She gripped her arm tight, trying to stop the bleeding, when she noticed one of the Chuunin racing at Naruto. 

"NARUTO-KUN!!!" 

She ran forward, taking out a kunai, and stabbed him in the side. He cut Naruto's hand slightly, but he tried to kick her in the stomach. She did a forward flip over his leg, kicking him in the face, and back flipped off. The other Chuunin was coming at her from behind, and she tensed, ready to dodge, when her Ayaka Sharingan flashed, and she heard the Chuunin make contact with something hard. She turned to see the Chuunin had made contact with Kakashi's arm, and relaxed…until her arm sent a burning pain through her chest. She fell to her knees, holding her arm, and Naruto ran to her side as Kakashi asked, "It seems you forgot to tell us something, eh Tazuna?" 

Tazuna sighed, saying, "I guess I should tell you…" He explained about Gato and his band of thugs, their hold on the island, and the bridges importance. "We can't continue…Naruto and Ayumi were poisoned…" "I'm fine! Let's go!" Ayumi said defiantly. Kakashi checked her arm, and said, "We need to remove the poison from both of you, and fast. We'll need to turn back." Naruto, angry, stabbed his hand with a kunai, and Ayumi's eyes widened. While Ayumi wasn't looking, Kakashi noticed the poison being expelled from her system and falling to the floor like rain. 'Natural healing abilities?' Kakashi thought, before going up to Naruto and saying, "Naruto, it was cool how you took out the poison and all, but if you don't stop the bleeding, you're going to die." 

Naruto's face went pale as Kakashi said, "It would be a good idea to stop the bleeding, seriously." Naruto started freaking out, and Ayumi got an anime sweat drop before saying, "Naruto-kun, the more you move around, the more blood that will come out…" That only made Naruto worse, and Ayumi smacked her forehead as Kakashi calmed down Naruto enough to wrap up the wound. Ayumi asked, "What about my arm?" Kakashi looked at it a moment, and put on a special ointment…that stung her like a thousand bees. She gritted her teeth in pain as he wrapped up her arm, and she said, "Arigato…" "You'll still be able to use it, but if you put too much weight on it, you'll hurt yourself." "Nice to know." She said with a smile. 

They continued walking, and Hara looked at Ayumi's arm worriedly as Ayumi held it across her chest. Naruto, probably bored, started throwing kunai. Hara snarled slightly when Naruto threw one, and found a white rabbit. 'A rabbit? Why would Hara feel threatened by a rabbit? Unless…a replacement jutsu!' she thought, immediately on guard. Her Ayaka Sharingan flashed as she shouted, "Get down!" She jumped down, pushing down Naruto as a sword flew over their heads. Kakashi had pushed everyone else down, so nobody was hit. Ayumi looked up to see a shinobi standing on the sword, which was stuck in a tree. 

She stood up, and Hara was snarling beside her. "Ayumi, stay back." Kakashi said protectively, pushing her behind him as he uncovered his Sharingan eye. "Who is he?" She questioned, and he said, "Zabuza Mamochi. The Demon of the Hidden Mist." "Demon?" Hara lowered her ears, still snarling, and Ayumi took a step back. "Kakashi Hatake. The Copy Ninja. Said to have copied over a thousand jutsu." Zabuza said, sounding impressed. They soon started a heated fight, and Ayumi felt itching to fight too. Zabuza used the Hidden Mist jutsu, and everyone jumped to Tazuna, kunai out, defending him. After a moment, Kakashi dispelled some of the mist, when Zabuza appeared in the formation the Genin had made. 

Ayumi could feel her heart beating in her ears, and she quickly grabbed her blades as he tried to swing at her. She blocked, but she was being forced downward and back, the sword just about to touch her. She did a sweeping kick, but he jumped over it, putting more strain on her arms, and she kicked upward, hitting him in the stomach. She activated the Ayaka Sharingan as she did some hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!" The attack seemed to hit him dead on, but she was still on guard, looking around carefully. Her eyes widened as she did a back flip, missing his blade. "Whoa! Close one…" She saw Hara, and decided to use her new jutsu. 

She put her blades on her belt, and did some hand signs, saying, "Twin Technique: Wolf Fang jutsu!" Her foot glowed with chakra, and so did Hara's tail. She ran at him full force, with Hara hidden in her shadow. She kicked him in the side, and Hara hit him in the stomach. The chakra gave it some added strength, and he turned to water. "What?!" He grabbed her by the back of the neck, slightly choking her, and she gripped his hand, trying to help her breathing as she gasped for air. "Pretty good for a Genin. What's with your eyes?" She deactivated the Ayaka Sharingan, and he felt the surge of power dissipate. 

"I'll just kill you then." She felt sure he would, and it was confirmed when his grip around her neck tightened. She gasped for air, struggling futilely, and was able to say one word… "Naruto-kun…" She felt her lack of air starting to tire her, and she thought, 'I have to do…something…I can't die like this! I refuse!' Her eyes held new determination as she did a powerful backwards kick, and feeling it connect with his stomach. Instead of releasing her, his grip tightened, and she choked. "Ayumi-chan!!!" Naruto yelled. Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, a kunai at his throat, and said, in a deadly tone, "Put her down." Zabuza released his grip, and she fell to the ground hard, breathing deeply. 

She coughed, spitting up blood, and she got up. She was light-headed from lack of oxygen, but she glared at Zabuza, standing as steady as she possibly could, and went over to the others. "Ayumi-chan!" Naruto said, worried, as he helped her stand. "Are you okay, nii-chan?" Though his voice seemed emotionless, Ayumi could hear the worry in her nii-san's voice. "I'll be fine. Just let me breath." She sat down, breathing deeply, trying to slow her heartbeat. She saw Zabuza turn to water, and her eyes widened as he hit Kakashi into the water. "Kakashi!!" She yelled, but she didn't move, too frozen with fear to even think about it. 

Hara was beside her, ears and tail lowered, and whimpering softly. Zabuza used the Water Prison jutsu, and Ayumi stood. Zabuza made a water clone, attacking Naruto and Sasuke. "Naruto-kun!! Nii-san!!" Naruto's headband was knocked off as he flew back and Sasuke was held to the ground. "Get away from them!" She yelled, stabbing the clone with a kunai. Before the clone turned to water, it hit her away, making her smack into a tree. "Ayumi!" Sakura yelled, worried. Ayumi rubbed her head, saying, "Ow…that hurt…" She saw another clone in front of Naruto, but her muscles refused to move. "Naruto-kun…do something!" She yelled, starting to rise. 

Naruto suddenly gained courage, and raced at Zabuza. "Don't do that, baka!!" Ayumi yelled, standing. The clone hit him away, and Naruto stood, holding his headband. "You're…headband…" Ayumi walked over as he said, "Put this in your Bingo Book. The future Hokage never backs down." Naruto tied his headband on. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki." Ayumi smiled, saying, "And you'll fear him one day." She then took out some kunai as Naruto said, "I have a plan." "No!!" Ayumi looked up, shocked, at Kakashi. "Protect Tazuna! Stay on mission!" "But…Kakashi…sensei…" Ayumi's eyes turned stubborn. "We're not leaving you behind!" 

Naruto did some hand signs, saying, "Shadow Clone jutsu!" Him and all his clones jumped at Zabuza's single clone, who threw them all off. Naruto took out a giant shuriken, throwing it to Sasuke. Sasuke threw it at Zabuza, who merely jumped over it. There was a shuriken in the shadow of the first, but he caught it. Ayumi's heart sank, until the Ayaka Sharingan flashed, and she smirked as the shuriken poofed into Naruto, who threw a kunai. Zabuza released the water prison, and Kakashi said, "I'll take it from here." Ayumi smiled, saying, "I'm fine with that…" Both Jounin used Water Vortex jutsu, and she saw Naruto caught in the powerful tides. 

She ran onto the water, channeling her chakra through her feet feeling like second nature. She lifted Naruto out of the water before running back, careful to avoid really rough water, and put Naruto on shore when Kakashi used the Water Dragon jutsu, pinning Zabuza to a tree. Before anyone could move, three needles hit Zabuza in the neck. Ayumi's eyes widened as she looked up. "A tracker ninja from the Mist village…" she said, as the young shinobi jumped down, grabbing Zabuza's body.  
Ayumi looked at the shinobi carefully, and asked herself, softly, "Why do I feel like something's out of place?" The tracker ninja took Zabuza's body and disappeared. 

Kakashi covered his Sharingan, saying, "Well, let's keep going." He took one step and fell over. "Kakashi!" Ayumi ran to his side, checking his pulse. "He's fine. He just used a lot of chakra." "What about you, Ayumi?" Sakura asked, worried. "I'll be fine…but a little rest couldn't hurt." She slung Kakashi's arm over her shoulders, and stood. Sasuke took the other side, and Ayumi smiled gratefully. "Tazuna, would you mind showing us the way?" He nodded, leading them to his house, where his daughter got a bed for Kakashi. Ayumi put him down, covering him up with the blanket carefully, and put a wet cloth on his forehead. "Why are you the only one really taking care of him?" The daughter asked, genuinely curious. 

"He's done it for me practically every day I train too hard. I'm repaying the favor." Ayumi went to the room nearby, and saw Sakura was already settling down. They were sharing the room, so Ayumi took the other bed. She quickly changed, not noticing how jealous Sakura was of her perfect figure, and crawled into bed. As she fell asleep, she said, sleepily, "Good night, Sakura." "Good night, Ayumi." And Ayumi fell asleep the next moment.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Ayumi awoke at dawn, and saw Sakura was still asleep in the other bed, hugging a photo. Not wanting to be nosy, Ayumi didn't look at the picture, and changed into a white t-shirt and camouflage cargo pants, tying her headband around her neck, and left the room. She saw Kakashi walking around with crutches, and said, "If you need crutches to walk, you shouldn't be walking at all." She was smiling, and he noticed the cuts on her arm were healed, not even leaving a scar. "I see you're better." He commented, and she looked at her arm. "I always heal this fast. Is that okay?" "It's…fine. Are you coming with the others to train?" "Of course! I wouldn't miss it!" "Then you can wake them up." 

"My pleasure." She ran silently up the stairs, and went into the room Naruto and Sasuke were sharing. She thought a moment before breathing deeply, and yelling, "WAKE UP!!!!" They fell out of their beds in shock, and she laughed. "What was that for?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his head. "Because I couldn't think of another way to wake you two up." She said with a smile. "Anyway, we're going to train, so get ready while I go wake up Sakura." She went to the room next door, and said, "Oh my gosh! Sasuke's walking around without a shirt!" Sakura shot up in bed, her eyes the shape of hearts, and Ayumi shook her head in disappointment, hands on her hips. 

"Don't you think you're a LITTLE obsessed?" She asked as she picked up a sleepy Hara. "What do you mean?" Ayumi's eye twitched as she said, "Never mind. Kakashi's going to train us now, so get ready." Sakura nodded as Ayumi went downstairs to eat breakfast. She sat down, and smiled as Tazuna's daughter placed food before her. She started eating as the boys came down, and noticed a photo hanging on the wall. She looked closer to see that someone was ripped out, but she didn't question it. By the time she finished, Sakura, Kakashi, Tazuna, and his grandson, Inari, joined them at the table. 

Ayumi finished, and washed her dishes. She went over to the picture, and looked at it closely. "Why is someone ripped out of this picture?" She questioned, and noticed a sad silence fill the air. "Is there a story behind this?" Kakashi questioned, and Tazuna talked about Inari's father, how he was a hero to the island, and how Gato had him publicly executed to show that no one could oppose him. As Tazuna spoke, Ayumi noticed Inari seemed to be holding back tears, and Ayumi wanted to comfort him. He eventually ran out, crying, and Ayumi felt a tightness grip her heart. Inari's mother followed him, and Ayumi looked at Kakashi a moment before following. 

Inari's mother couldn't find him, and Ayumi went to the trees, searching carefully. She soon found Inari had turned around and went back to his room. She went back inside, and knocked on his bedroom door. "C-Come I-in." She opened the door slowly, and noticed him holding a picture to his chest, crying heavily. "Shhh…its okay…" She walked over, hugging him. He cried into her shoulder, and she said, "I know what it feels like…to have people close to you killed…it makes you lose hope, doesn't it?" Inari nodded, sniffling. "At first…I thought that there was no such thing as a hero…because, if there had been such a thing, they would've saved them…but I learned…there are heroes. Kakashi and Naruto…they saved me from myself." 

She smiled at him, holding back her own tears, "And that's all you really need. At least one person that really, truly cares about you, and it makes you feel…complete." She stood, holding the small boy in her arms, and said, "I need to go train, so I need to go. You'll be okay, right?" He nodded, and she smiled, saying, "Well, be good." She put him down on the bed, and went to the door. She went downstairs as Kakashi stood. "How's he doing?" Kakashi questioned as everyone left. "I think he'll be fine." She replied as she walked next to Naruto, saying, "Has he said what kind of training this is?" "Nope." 

Ayumi sighed, rolling her eyes. "That's just like him." They soon reached a small clearing, and Kakashi said, "We'll be learning chakra control." Ayumi crossed her arms, sighing, as he continued. "We'll be walking up trees…without using our hands." The others looked at him like he was crazy, while Ayumi said, "Kakashi-san, I've done this already." "I know. Be patient, Ayumi." She sighed as he concentrated chakra to his feet and walked up a tree. He threw down three kunai, and said, "Just concentrate chakra to the soles of your feet and run at the tree. Ayumi, you can do it once, so I can see if you need any help with it." Ayumi sighed, saying, "You ALWAYS have to be sure I can control my chakra…why?" 

"Safety precaution." She muttered something darkly under her breath before easily concentrating chakra to her feet and walking straight up the trunk of a tree. She noticed Naruto looking up at her with wide eyes, and Sasuke asked, "How the…?" "Kakashi taught me already." She said simply as she back flipped off the tree. 

"Well…you can go relax, Ayumi." Ayumi stretched her arms over her head lazily as she plopped down next to a tree. She saw them run at three separate trees, and only Sakura made it to the top. Ayumi smiled, mouthing, "Girls rule." Sasuke glared at her as Naruto pouted, crossing his arms in a childish fashion. Her smile widened, and Kakashi said, "Ayumi, Sakura, you two are going to go with Tazuna to the bridge today. Be careful." He warned, and Ayumi stood up, saying, "Yeah, yeah…I know." She went back to the house to get her weapons, and Sakura followed. 

As Ayumi put on her shuriken holster and weapons pouch, Sakura asked, "What do you know about Sasuke?" "Everything." Ayumi said, putting her blades on her belt. After a moment of silence, Ayumi said, "I'm not going to tell you anything. Everything I know is confidential and will stay that way." Sakura drooped as they left, and they found Tazuna in the kitchen. "Tazuna-san, we're taking you to the bridge now." Ayumi said cheerfully, and they were soon heading to the bridge. As they walked, Ayumi looked around at the poverty of the island, and cursed mentally at Gato for all of the pain and suffering he was causing. They soon reached the bridge, and as Sakura sat down on the railing, Ayumi asked how she could help. 

"Well…could you bring those beams over there?" Ayumi nodded, lifting the beams and walking to the other side of the bridge. As she put them down, she asked, "What do I do with these?" "Can you put them parallel to each other?" She nodded, positioning the beams. After working for a few hours, Tazuna gave her a break, and she sat down next to Sakura. "Bored?" "Huh?" Sakura questioned, a far off look on her face. Ayumi shook her head, and Tazuna said, "I'm heading back now, but I need to get some things for dinner." Ayumi nodded, and the girls stood, following him.  
They went into a grocery store, but there wasn't much on the shelves. 

Ayumi looked around, a sad look in her eyes, when she noticed a presence behind her and Sakura. She was wary as she noticed the figures hand reach for Sakura's purse and her weapons pouch. In a flash, she did a spinning kick, hitting him in the face and knocking him to the floor, before grabbing his arm, twisting it behind his back, and placed her foot between his shoulder blades. Tazuna's eyes widened, and Ayumi said, "If you want to live to see another day, I'd advise you to stop stealing purses, or I'll kill you next time." Sakura noticed Ayumi's face was impassive as she released the man, and they were soon walking down the street again. 

"I didn't think girls fought like that." "Not many people do. I'll be changing that in the future." They soon reached the house, and Sasuke and Naruto weren't back yet. Kakashi was back though, and he said, "Ayumi, I need to talk to you…in private." She followed him to the next room, and he said, "Ayumi, I need to tell you something important. It has to do with your Kekai Genkai." Ayumi was listening intently now, and she made eye contact. "The reason you heal so fast…is because your chakra is abnormally concentrated into your blood, and it makes the blood actually flow back into the body and close the wound. Only someone with the Ayaka Sharingan is born with this ability, and even THEN it's rare. Don't tell anyone else, since this ability and the Ayaka Sharingan itself are wanted for different purposes. Be careful who sees, because it may be a fatal mistake." 

Ayumi absorbed this information silently, her eyes widening, and she said, "So…that's why I heal so fast?" Kakashi nodded, and Ayumi looked at the ground, thinking. "I guess…it's just something else they kept from me…" Kakashi felt pity for her. She had cared so much about them, and it seemed as if they didn't return the feelings.  
She smiled, saying, "Well, it doesn't surprise me…they always tried to control me…and they didn't want me to be TOO powerful…" she stood, saying, "I…need to check on the boys…" her smile was considerably weaker, and Kakashi felt bad for having told her. 

She left, and found them both still trying to climb the tree. They seemed drained, and Ayumi sighed, saying, "Maybe you guys should take a break…" Naruto turned to her, and noticed her bright, playful eyes seem dull and the playfulness had been drained from the innocent white eyes. "What's wrong, Ayumi-chan?" He asked. "Nothing…" Sasuke noticed too, but planned on prying in private. "Anyway, you guys should come back for dinner, or you'll fall over." She said, brightening slightly. They followed her back, and sat down at the table. Ayumi had a far off expression on her face, and she hardly noticed Tazuna's daughter put food in front of her. 

"Arigato." She said softly, smiling, before starting to eat slowly. Naruto and Sasuke started having an eating contest, and Ayumi looked up briefly, her eyes glazed over, before returning to her own food. When they were done eating their fill, Sasuke noticed Kakashi casting Ayumi sympathetic glances, though she didn't seem to notice. After a few moments, Inari stood, saying, "You guys are working hard for nothing! Gato's men are too powerful! You'll just end up dying!" Ayumi snapped back into the present, and said, "At least we'll die doing what's right, Inari." "But…you can leave! You shouldn't even be meddling!" 

Ayumi sighed, saying, "Inari…sometimes, you need to take risks in order to do what you know is right. I'm not about to run, and neither are the others." "Fine then! Throw away your dreams for something that doesn't even concern you." Anger flashed in Ayumi's eyes as she said, "I'm not about to throw my dreams away for nothing. I'll fight Gato and live. I can't just leave, knowing other people are suffering like I did." After a moment of silence, she stood, saying, "I'm not hungry. I'm going to bed." And she left, not looking at anyone, and Naruto looked at her with worry in his eyes.  
She went into her room, and locked the door behind her before sitting on the bed. 

She hugged her legs, her chin on her knees, and felt tears building up in her eyes, though they didn't fall. "They said they cared…but they didn't tell me about my own blood…what else didn't they tell me?! Did they get me engaged behind my back too?!" The last parts she yelled, throwing her pillow in her anger, and said, softly, "I think the only people who really cared were Sasuke and…Itachi." She said the last part so softly she hardly heard it herself, but it was the truth. She felt a faint sob wrack her throat, and whispered, "I wish he hadn't left…I miss him so much…I miss him as much as I miss my mother…" 

At that moment, someone knocked on the door, and she said, "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" "Ayumi let me in." Kakashi said through the door. "No!" He poofed in, and felt guilt tear at his heart when he noticed how…sad she looked. He sat down on the bed, saying, "Ayumi, you can tell me what's wrong." "…You wouldn't understand…" "Of course I would. Now…what's wrong?" She looked away, saying, "I feel…betrayed…they lied to me…they said all I had was the Ayaka Sharingan…it's like they never cared…" She looked up at him, saying, "All I really wanted…was for them to really care about me…like I cared about them…" 

Kakashi sighed, unsure of what to say, when she continued, "I wonder…if I had died…would they have cared? Or would they only care that the Ayaka Sharingan was gone?" Kakashi gave her a comforting hug, saying, "I don't know if they would have cared…but I know three people who would have…" "Who?" "Naruto, Sasuke, and…" she knew the rest, and smiled, saying, "Thanks, Kakashi." "No problem. Do you want to go back down?" "No…I'm just going to take a shower and go to sleep." "Okay…" Ayumi stood, getting her clothes, and went to take a shower as Kakashi headed back downstairs. When she was in her bed, she thought, 'I wonder…if he could…would Itachi come back…?' and she went soundly to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The next day, Ayumi woke up to the birds chirping outside her window, and stretched. She got out of bed, changing into a black tank top with the Uchiha fan on the back and dark jean shorts before pulling on her shoes and tying her headband around her neck. She went downstairs to see Sakura, Kakashi, Tazuna, his daughter, and Inari at the table with Sasuke. She smiled, saying, "Good morning…" She sat down, and Tazuna's daughter gave her breakfast. "Arigato." Ayumi ate everything before asking, "Where's Naruto-kun?" "Out training. He's going to exhaust all of his chakra." Kakashi said. Ayumi asked for seconds before leaving to find Naruto. 

Meanwhile, Naruto had met Haku… "Do you have someone that's precious to you?" Haku questioned. "Well…" Naruto blushed. "I have a friend…a girl…" "You care for her?" "A lot…like I want us to be more than friends…more than best friends…" Haku already knew who he was talking about, and said, "You have to protect those close to you. Remember that." With that, Haku left, and Ayumi came up to Naruto, saying, "Hey, Naruto-kun! You missed breakfast!" "Oh…yeah…" she handed him the food, and he smiled, saying, "Arigato, Ayumi-chan!" 

He didn't notice someone watching them from the shadows, thinking of a way to fight them to the death… After he was done eating, Sasuke came, and they started training. Ayumi watched them for a while before leaving, and going down to the water. She sat down on the sand, and looked out at the water, watching the waves break gently on the shore. A breeze blew in from the sea, and it blew her hair away from her face, and she breathed deeply, cherishing the salty smell. She heard someone behind her, and turned her head slightly to see Haku. "Who are you?" She asked, on guard. "Haku. I'm sorry if I disturbed you…" 

Ayumi relaxed, saying, "It's okay…really…care to join me?" He sat down beside her, and she said, "So…what brings you to the water so early?" "I should ask you the same question." Ayumi smiled, saying, "Good point." "…I was collecting herbs. What about you?" "I…just needed some time to think…" she smiled brightly, "But…maybe I just need to get it all off my chest…" There was a moment of silence before Haku asked, "Do you have someone that's precious to you?" Ayumi looked at the waves, saying, "Well…I have my nii-san, Kakashi, Sakura…Naruto…" "What is Naruto to you?" "I see you've met him." 

Haku nodded. "Well…he's my best friend…but…" She was silent for a moment, and leaned back on her hands before continuing. "Maybe…I want us to be MORE…" There was a moment of silence before Haku stood, saying, "I need to get these herbs back. Goodbye." "I hope to see you again, Haku." Ayumi said with a smile. When Haku was gone, Ayumi looked at her surroundings a moment before getting up. She went to a small clearing, and whistled. A few moments later, Hara ran to her, happy, and Ayumi smiled, saying, "I think it's time we started training." Hara nodded, and Ayumi took out her blades. She threw one, and hit the center of a tree. 

"…I guess I don't need to practice my aim…" She looked at Hara, and said, "Maybe you should…" Ayumi put her blades on her belt before doing some hand signs, and said, "Twin Technique: Wolf Fang jutsu!" Hara's tail glowed brightly with chakra, and so did Ayumi's foot. They both ran at different trees, hitting them with all of their strength. The trees had huge dents, and looked like they were about to fall over. "…Guess we've got that down…" She saw a gust of wind that looked like a small tornado, and a thought struck her. For the rest of the day, she worked tirelessly with Hara to make another wind jutsu, and everyone worried at dinner when Sasuke and Naruto came back but Ayumi didn't. 

After a while, Kakashi decided to go out looking for her. As he neared the clearing, he felt a strong wind blow against another. He was curious, and saw her standing with her blades, an exhausted Hara lying down on the grass. "Maybe it could be a fire jutsu too…" She tensed, and turned around, seeing Kakashi. "Oh…hi Kakashi." "You should rest. You've been training too hard." She shook her head, saying, "I'm…almost there…just a little more time…" Kakashi sighed, saying, "Okay…" he jumped into a tree, watching her as she continued training. A couple of hours passed before Ayumi stopped, her arms shaking from fatigue, and said, smiling, "I finally did it…I'm finally done…" 

With that she fell backwards, and was asleep from lack of chakra before Kakashi caught her. He smiled, and lifted Hara into his arms as well before heading back to Tazuna's house.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Ayumi woke in the room she'd been sharing with Sakura, and smiled when she felt Hara wiggling under the covers. She felt completely refreshed, and looked across the room. Sakura's bed was empty and made, and she sat up slowly, realizing she was still in the clothes she'd been wearing before. No one had bothered to change her into her pajamas, but she didn't care. Hara jumped onto her lap, circled three times, and lay down. She smiled brightly, and looked at the dresser, seeing her headband and blades lying on top. She listened to the birds chirping outside the window, but the silence was shattered…by the terrified scream of a little boy… "Inari!" 

She put Hara on the ground before grabbing all of her weaponry and putting it on, along with her headband around her neck. She silently ran down the stairs, quieting an angry Hara, and saw two men take Tazuna's daughter. Inari was crying, and Ayumi wanted to comfort him, but to show herself now would make it more difficult to save his mother. She followed the men, as silent as a shadow, and saw Naruto save Tazuna's daughter and defeat them. They obviously worked for Gato, and Ayumi felt that something bad was happening at the bridge, and the feeling never let her down before. 

She quickly ran towards the bridge, hoping she wasn't too late, when she heard Kakashi say, "Sakura is the smartest student to come out of the Academy, Sasuke is the best fighter, Naruto is the number one hyperactive, knuckleheaded ninja, and Ayumi is the most determined, trustworthy," he looked in her direction a moment, knowing she was there, "And loyal shinobi in the whole village." She beamed, taking out her blades, and did her hand signs silently. She saw the tracker ninja, and aimed for him. "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" She jumped out of her hiding place, slashing at the tracker Nin, and cutting his mask, forcing him back. 

She kicked the ninja in the stomach, back flipping away before Zabuza could cut her in half. She took a defensive stance, saying, "I see you guys started the party without me…" She smiled at her team, "You know I don't like that." Zabuza said, "Haku, you take her." "Haku?" Ayumi's eyes widened, then her anger flared. She did some hand signs, saying, "Twin Technique: Wolf Fang jutsu!" Her foot glowed with chakra as she ran at Haku almost too fast to see, and Hara came at him from behind. He dodged Ayumi's foot, but not Hara's tail. Ayumi then used her hand as leverage to kick him in the side, and he slid away. 

Hara snarled at him, and Ayumi took her blades, and threw one with deadly accuracy. It missed him through, embedding itself in the bridge, and she blocked his needles before grabbing her blade, wrenching it from the bridge, and did a spinning kick, hitting him away. "Not going to use your special eyes, girl?" Zabuza questioned calmly. "What are you talking about?" She asked warily, not wanting him to know about the Ayaka Sharingan. "Don't play dumb with me. You have the Ayaka Sharingan. Why not use it?" She flinched, and Haku ran at her again. He stabbed one of her arms with a needle, but she cut his mask again, kicking him in the chest. 

She breathed deeply, trying to ignore any distractions, and ran at him. He blocked, and they were caught in a death lock. He did a one-handed hand sign, and her eyes widened. Sasuke ran over, but he was caught in the jutsu, too. Mirrors made of ice rose, and Ayumi saw Haku break away and melt into one of the mirrors. He appeared in all of the mirrors, and threw hundreds of needles. Her body moved on its own, and she took most of the needles, shielding Sasuke. She smiled, saying, "Well…better me than you…" "Nii-chan!" She fell to her knees, and he caught her before she hit the ground. 

That's when Naruto came, and got himself caught in the ice mirrors. They fought hard, but Naruto wasn't doing too good. Soon, only Sasuke could fight. Haku was about to kill Naruto, and Ayumi was on her feet in a moment, running to defend him. Sasuke got there first, and a few hit him, but Ayumi pushed him out of the way, getting one in the chest and two in each shoulder. "AYUMI-CHAN!!" she fell back into Naruto's arms, and she smiled, saying, "I'm happy…that you're alright…Naruto-kun…you're too precious to me…for me to let you die…" "Ayumi-chan, you're going to be alright! Please…don't leave me…" "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun…" "AYUMI-CHAN!!" 

But her eyes fluttered close, and he thought that she'd died. "Ayumi-chan…" he looked to his side, to see Sasuke wasn't moving either. He glared at Haku, saying, "How could you?! Why'd you have to take HER life?! …I loved her, and you took her away from me!!!" Red chakra began to spiral around him, and he said, "I'm going to kill you!!!"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Ayumi slowly started coming back into consciousness, and felt a tear hit her cheek, and sobbing reached her ears. She slowly opened her eyes to see everyone around her, crying. Even Kakashi had a tear or two. She felt something wriggle on her stomach, and smiled, realizing it was Hara. "…Hey guys…what's wrong…?" Everyone looked down at her, shocked, and Naruto hugged her tight, saying, "We thought we lost you!" 

She smiled wider, saying, "You can't get rid of me that easily…" Hara licked her face, her tail looking like a fan as Ayumi smiled, laughing. Naruto released her, and Ayumi tried to lift Hara…but a searing pain erupted in her arms from the needles. "…Anyone want to take out these needles?" Naruto nodded, and, with Sasuke and Kakashi's help, pulled out all of the needles. As the wounds healed, Naruto lifted her onto his back, and she successfully hid her blush. They were soon back at Tazuna's house, and they stayed until the bridge was complete. Ayumi waved, saying, "Bye! We'll visit soon!" 

As they walked across the bridge, Ayumi said, "This was the best mission I've ever been on! …Except for when I almost died…but other than that-" "We get it." Sasuke cut in. She smiled sheepishly, saying, "I was making it worse, wasn't I…?" "Kinda." She noticed Naruto tried to avoid eye contact with her, but she didn't know why. "What happened in there when I passed out?" She questioned Sasuke. "I remember he said something…about you…but I'm not exactly sure…" "Oh…" Sasuke wasn't telling the whole truth. 

He HAD heard what Naruto had said, but he didn't want Ayumi to know. Ayumi shrugged, and picked up Hara, thinking, 'I wonder what else is in store for us…whatever it is, I know we can handle it!'


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

They had gotten back to D-ranked missions, and they were done for the day. Kakashi had left already, and Ayumi said, "Well…I better get home…" "But I thought we were going to spend the rest of the day together, Ayumi-chan?" "Oops! Sorry, Naruto, I forgot…" They started walking, and both immediately noticed a box following Naruto around. "Um…what's that?" She questioned, and the box was surrounded by smoke, and three Academy students threw the box off. Ayumi's eye twitched as she asked, "You know…no one's going to fall for that…" "You did." Konohamaru pointed out. 

A vein throbbed in her head as she balled up her fists and said, in deadly calm voice, "I don't fall for things that low…or can you do better?" The younger kids cowered in fear, and Ayumi said, "I see you get my point." The anger left her features, and Konohamaru asked, "You wanna play Ninja with us, boss?" That's when Sakura came and, one way or another, began to pummel Naruto and Konohamaru. "Aren't you being a bit…extreme, Sakura-chan?" "No!" "Okay! Okay! Sorry I asked…" Konohamaru tried to run away, and bumped into someone. 

It was a Sand shinobi, judging from the headband, and he didn't seem happy. He lifted Konohamaru off the ground, and Ayumi glared icily, saying, "Let him go." "And why should I?" Ayumi took out two kunai, saying, "Don't make me use force." Her face was impassive, and she twirled the kunai expertly between her fingers. "Like you could hurt me." He said, cocky. "Let's see. I've fought a Jounin already, and I hurt him pretty bad. I wonder how I'll do against you." She smirked, and threw the kunai, hitting a small hole in the fence to her left. 

The Sand Genin's eyes widened as Ayumi said, "Years of practice really DO make perfect, ne?" She had ninja wire attached to the end, and pulled the kunai back to her. She caught it, saying, "Let him go and I won't have to hurt you."  
A girl came up behind him, asking, "What are you doing, Kankurou?" "Stay out of this, Temari." Ayumi cracked her knuckles, and said, "This should be easy." She took a fighting stance, and Kankurou threw a kunai. The Ayaka Sharingan flashed, and she relaxed as a stone hit the kunai off course. She stood straight, saying, "Well, that was no fun, Sasuke. I could have blocked it." "You've always been slow." "On the contrary. I've always been fast." 

Sasuke switched his attention from Ayumi to Kankurou, and asked, "Why are you bothering Leaf Genin?" "I don't have an excuse, if that's what you want." Ayumi sighed, and grabbed a small stone, tested it, and threw it at the hand holding Kankurou. She ran in, catching Konohamaru, and jumped back. The next moment, the Ayaka Sharingan flashed, and she set Konohamaru down as a voice said, "Kankurou stop." Everyone froze, but the Sand Genin froze out of fear. Ayumi looked up to see another Sand Genin upside-down on a branch next to Sasuke, and his voice was emotionless as he said, "Kankurou, you're an embarrassment to our village." 

The Sand Genin seemed frightened, and Ayumi put away her kunai and ninja wire. He appeared beside his teammates in a swirl of sand, and Sasuke jumped down. "What's your name?" He questioned Ayumi, and she said, her face just as impassive, "Ayumi Uchiha." Hara appeared beside her, snarling warningly, but Ayumi picked her up, silencing her with a hand on the head. "Gaara of the Desert." "…It was nice to meet you, Gaara." 'The Chuunin exams are finally here!' she thought as the Sand Genin left. She turned to Naruto, smiling, and said, "Sorry, Naruto-kun, but I have something I need to do. See you later!" 

She disappeared the next moment, with Hara right beside her. They had become inseparable since they started training together, and she went to the training ground, saying, "I'm going to work on my strength…who knows, maybe I'll need it later…"  
As she was training, she sensed chakra nearby…and she looked around inconspicuously for a moment before grabbing her blades and throwing one at a tree. She heard rustling of leaves, and tensed as she looked around again. She saw a shadow, and Hara growled when she was facing this unknown enemy. When Hara's growl shot up to a snarl, Ayumi did some hand signs, muttering, "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" 

She whirled around, slashing at the unknown ninja with her blade, making him fly into a tree. "What do you want here?" She demanded, holding her blades in an offensive pose. "I see even Leaf Genin are strong. But how smart are they?" He ran at her again, and the Ayaka Sharingan flashed before she dodged, stabbing the shinobi in the chest, and he poofed. She jumped back, and ripped her blade from the tree. She could no longer sense the shinobi's chakra, but she didn't drop her guard for a moment as she jumped back down, picking up Hara, and left. Once she was far away, and was sure no one was following her, she relaxed. 

Only later did she find out they were going to be in the Chuunin exams…


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

LOST CHAPTER

They were on a normal C-ranked mission: to bring Shibuki back to the Waterfall village safely. Ayumi was bored, and looked around with her eyes half-opened lazily. "We almost there yet?" she questioned Kakashi. At that moment, they reached a huge waterfall, and she said, "I'll take that as a 'yes'." Soon, two little children ran up to Shibuki, and said that they had to pick up all of the trash in the water. Ayumi smiled, saying, "I'll help them out." "And so will the others." Shibuki said with a smile. Naruto OBVIOUSLY didn't want to, but he was soon persuaded to help out. As they were cleaning up the trash, Kakashi was reading his book and soon got a message from a hawk. 

He had to leave, and told them to follow later. "Bye, Kakashi-san!" Ayumi said, smiling, as she got out of the water. She didn't pay attention to Naruto as he got into an argument with the children, but her head snapped up when he stepped in dog poop. Her eye twitched as Naruto overreacted. "Naruto-kun…you don't have to overreact…just wash it off…" After that, they finished cleaning up all of the trash, and Naruto sat down on the ground, hungry. "You should just leave!" Shibuki said rudely. Ayumi's eyes turned steely, but she helped Naruto up. She knew why he wanted them to leave: so they wouldn't know how to get to the village. 

Sakura and Naruto complained, but they started walking when Ayumi heard someone call out Shibuki's name. She turned around…to see the children's mother wobbling towards Shibuki and the children. "Shibuki…they attacked without warning…" She fell forward…to reveal a kunai stuck in her back. Hara whimpered as Ayumi's eyes widened. They ran over, and Sakura checked the wound. "She'll be fine. The wound isn't that bad." Ayumi said, "We need to check the village. There may be other survivors." Sasuke nodded, saying, "Sakura, Ayumi, take the children and the woman to a safe place while me and Naruto go with Shibuki to the village." 

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I'M GOING WITH YOU!!" "This is not the time to ague, nii-chan." "I DON'T CARE! YOU'RE NOT LEAVING ME BEHIND!" That's when shinobi appeared from the waterfall, and Sasuke took out the windmill shuriken, hitting most of the shinobi except one. "Nii-chan…you can come…but I'm not happy about it!" "You're never happy." She mumbled, giving Sakura her first aid kit and following Shibuki as he led the way to entrance of the Hidden Waterfall village. When they were at the path leading behind the waterfall, Ayumi said, "Hara, search around in there. Snarl if you find the enemy." Hara seemed to nod and then ran into the cave. 

Ayumi put a finger to her lips before running in. Hara sniffed around, and Ayumi masked her chakra until Hara barked, signaling that it was safe. She went to the entrance, and signaled them in. They went up to a hole full of water, and Shibuki jumped in. Ayumi looked at Sasuke uneasily before jumping in after him. They soon resurfaced in the village, but it was empty. Ayumi put her whole head above water, breathing deeply, and Hara jumped onto her head. Ayumi giggled softly as Sasuke and Naruto got out of the water, and felt chakra. She saw Shibuki slip off, and followed him, Hara always by her side. 

She shadowed him as he went into the trunk of the huge tree, and she followed him to a shrine. He got a jug full of water, and she asked, "What's that?" He was so startled that he almost dropped it, and he said, his voice shaking, "Oh…it's just you." Ayumi came up, repeating her question. "It's the Hero's Water." "I've heard of it. Is that what the rogue shinobi are after?" Shibuki nodded, and he led her to a hole in the trunk. She looked out to see the rogue shinobi holding all of the villager's hostage, and Sasuke was tied up by his arms to an arch. "Oh they did NOT just do that to MY nii-san!" She muttered angrily. 

She then saw them lower Sakura, the children, and their mother in a net before tying them up. Suddenly, Naruto appeared, scaring Shibuki out of his mind. "Naruto!" Ayumi said, smiling. "I thought they got you!" Naruto smiled, saying, "They can't get me THAT easily!" Ayumi smiled widely at his childishness, and heard the leader yell, "Shibuki! I know you can hear me! Bring me the Hero's Water! If you don't, I'll kill each villager, one by one!" Ayumi's eyes grew steely as Hara snarled softly beside her. Naruto looked out too, and Shibuki was too scared to do anything. The leader grabbed the little girl, and started counting down from thirty. 

"Shibuki…" Shibuki looked up at Ayumi. "You're the leader of this village. It's your job to defend them, no matter what the cost." She breathed deeply, saying, "I'm prepared to do that. What about you?" Shibuki didn't answer, and time was running out. Naruto tightened his headband, saying, "To risk everything for what you love…that's what it means to be a hero. I'll prove it!" when the leader reached one, Naruto appeared, and Ayumi beamed with pride. Naruto tried to swing down on a vine, but it snapped, and he fell into the water. Ayumi's eye twitched as she said, "I prayed he'd actually make us look GOOD." Naruto soon got out of the water as the leader was about to kill the little girl. 

Naruto pushed the girl away, taking the kunai in the back. "NARUTO-KUN!!" She said, almost jumping out of hiding. They started kicking him, punching him, and Sakura yelled, "STOP IT! YOU'LL KILL HIM!!" "Well, little hero, who's going to save you now?" "I AM!!" They all looked up at Ayumi, with Hara waiting in the shadows. "What's a little girl going to do?" Her eyes were steely as she forward flipped off the branch and landed lightly on the ground. "Don't underestimate me." She grabbed her blades, and the leader asked, interested, "What's your name, girl?" 

"My name is Ayumi Uchiha, one of the last survivors of my clan." Hara was in the shadow of the trunk, growling too softly to hear, and bristling. Ayumi's eyes were steely as she said, "Step away from Naruto." The man with his foot on Naruto's back ground it into his back, and Ayumi did rapid hand signs, saying, "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" With that, she activated the Ayaka Sharingan and ran forward. She slashed at the man standing over Naruto from a safe distance, and he flew back. Two more rogue shinobi jumped at her from the side, and she did more hand signs, saying, "Wind Release: Wolf Fang Tornado jutsu!" 

She started spinning, her arms outstretched, holding her blades tightly, and cutting the shinobi while the wind protected her from their attacks. She stopped spinning, standing up straight, and asked, her eyes softening, "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded weakly, smiling. "I knew…you'd rescue me…" "Of course I would." She whispered, kneeling beside him, brushing some stray locks from his face. She smiled, whispering, "You'll be fine." "Awww. Lovesick?" She glared at the leader, a light blush on her face, but she didn't notice the same blush on Naruto's face. 

She stood up straight, saying, "I should kill you for hurting them." "Let's see you try." She smirked. "Don't tempt me." She did some hand signs, saying, "Twin Technique: Wolf Fang jutsu!" She ran at him, her foot glowing with power, and she almost kicked him in the stomach, but he dodged. Fortunately, he wasn't able to dodge Hara's tail. He released the little girl, and Ayumi caught her. "Shhh…it's okay…" she whispered to the frightened child, before setting her down with her brother. Ayumi sighed before standing up. "You're stronger than you look, girl." His eyes widened as he asked, "What's with your eyes?" 

She smirked, saying, "You're lucky. You get to see the last survivor with the Ayaka Sharingan. Now you know you can't win." He smirked, and a shinobi came up behind her. Her eyes had widened a moment before the shinobi appeared, and she moved to the side when he tried to hit her pressure point. He hit her shoulder, and she gritted her teeth in pain. She fell to her knees, holding her shoulder. 'They…dislocated my shoulder…' she thought as they grabbed her by the throat, lifting her into the air. She almost choked, the Ayaka Sharingan beginning to throb with power. "You don't seem as all powerful as you let on." The leader mocked. "I've always been a good liar." 

She said, smirking, before kicking him in the chest. He didn't release her, but tightened his grip on her throat. She choked, gasping for air. "You could always join us. Forget your pathetic village." She looked at Naruto, her gaze wavering, as she said, "No. I won't. I won't turn out like…" 'Itachi-nii-san…' "Then you'll just have to die." Before he could choke her, a massive amount of water hit him, pushing her away from him. Now that she was free, she had to relocate her shoulder. She saw Shibuki surrounded by a powerful chakra, and fight the leader, a former Waterfall Jounin. She relocated her shoulder, almost crying out in pain, and saw the leader stab through Shibuki. 

"SHIBUKI!!" She stood, with Hara immediately by her side, and saw the leader get the Hero's Water. 'Shit!' she thought as Naruto attacked him, without much success. She did some hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" it was the same as the Wolf Fang Tornado jutsu except it was fire instead of wind. The tornado smacked into the powerful chakra, and the fire dissipated. She grabbed her blades, slashing at him, but he grabbed her wrists, twisting them hard. She thought her arms would break, and she kicked him in the side. He didn't release her. Instead, he took a kunai, stabbing it close to her heart, before throwing her into the tree. 

She felt the blood flowing out of the wound, but she stayed conscious long enough to rip out the kunai. She saw Naruto use the Ninetail's chakra, and she smiled weakly as her blood, pulsing with chakra, flowed back into the wound, slowly healing her. She sat up as Naruto dealt the final blow, and Naruto went over to her. "You okay, Ayumi-chan?" She smiled brightly, her bright blue-white eyes happy as she said, "I'll be fine. How about you?" "I'm good." He lifted her into his arms bridal style, making both of them blush, and they headed down to rejoin their teammates and to untie the prisoners. 

Once everything was back to normal, Kakashi came to meet them where they had picked up trash earlier. Kakashi didn't seem interested…although Ayumi didn't think he would…and they started heading back. Not five seconds of walking later, Naruto stepped into dog poop again. Ayumi's eye twitched slightly as she thought, 'Well…that Naruto! And I love him just the way he is!'


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

They had to hand in their applications for the Chuunin exam, and Ayumi was happy as a bird. Hara was sleeping peacefully in her arms as they went in. "We're supposed to go to the third floor." Ayumi said, remembering Kakashi's instructions. They saw a couple shinobi keeping Genin from entering a room, and Ayumi asked, "What's going on here?" "They're not letting us in." Tenten said, angry. "Little girls don't belong in the Chuunin exams." One of the shinobi taunted. Hara woke up, snarling, as Ayumi said darkly, "I'll show YOU who belongs in these exams once I kick your ass!" "What makes you think you can?" He retorted. Ayumi put Hara down, and said, "Don't make me reveal your little secret, too." 

"What secret?" He asked, but she could here the worry in his voice. "Don't be more stupid than you are. You used a Genjutsu to make us think we were on the third floor. We're only on the second." With that, she released the Genjutsu, and the shinobi didn't seem happy about it. "Why you little-" He tried to punch her, but she caught his fist, twisting it, and said, calmly, "Don't underestimate me." She noticed stares, and released the shinobi. She was about to turn around and walk away when someone said, "Hey, you." She looked up to see Neji and Lee, and asked, "What?" "What's your name?" Neji questioned. "Ayumi." She said it in a tone saying she wasn't going to say anymore than that, and he didn't question her further. 

She smiled, saying, "Well…it was nice meeting you. See you during the exams." She then turned around to notice Naruto bummed out and Lee suddenly asking Sakura to be his girlfriend. Her eye twitched as she said, "Thank GOD he didn't ask me!" "Actually…" "OH GOD!!!" She jumped when she noticed Lee was in front of her, and prayed to the lord that Lee wasn't going to say what she thought he was going to say. "Would you be my girlfriend? I'll protect you with my life!" Her eye twitched, and both Naruto and Sasuke looked like they wanted to pummel him. "Sorry, Lee…but no." Lee seemed downhearted as he asked, "But…why?" 

"I like…someone else. I'm sorry." Lee was downhearted, and Naruto sighed with relief. "Wait…you like someone?" Naruto perked when Sasuke asked this question, and Ayumi blushed lightly, saying, "…Maybe…" "Who?" "I'm not going to tell you. You'll just have to be a good ninja and find out on your own." With that, she picked up Hara and dragged Naruto behind her as she headed to hand in the applications. Sasuke and Sakura followed her, and they were soon in a large room, with only half an hour left to hand in the applications. "Great! We'd better hurry, 'cause I'm not waiting until next year!" She was about to go to the door across the room when Lee appeared on the balcony.

"Oh God, what now?" She questioned, exasperated. "I've come to challenge Sasuke Uchiha to a battle." Ayumi looked at Sasuke, saying, "PLEASE make this quick! I want to actually BE in the exams this year!" Naruto, mad, ran at Lee, who easily twirled him into a wall. Ayumi smacked her forehead, saying, "Why do you have to be like this, Naruto-kun?" Before going to help him up as Sasuke began to fight. She sat Naruto up, a bit worried, when the Ayaka Sharingan flashed, and she turned to the fight to see Lee about to use a forbidden jutsu. Her eyes widened as she ran in, grabbing the bandages, and pulled him down to earth. 

Lee smashed into the floor as Sakura caught Sasuke. "Don't EVER do that to my nii-san again!" Ayumi said menacingly, releasing the bandages. At that moment, a large turtle appeared, and started scolding Lee. Ayumi got an anime sweat drop before helping Naruto up. The next moment, Gai appeared on the turtle, and Ayumi's eye twitched. "Who ARE these guys?" Gai appeared behind them, saying, "So this is Kakashi's squad, eh?" Ayumi held his gaze, nodding. "You must be Ayumi. I heard Kakashi was watching you, but I never got to meet you." "Okay…" "So…has Kakashi said anything about me?" Gai questioned, sounding proud. 

"Actually…no." "What?!" "Sorry, but he's never mentioned you before…" Gai seemed downhearted, and Ayumi said, hurriedly, "We need to hand in our applications, so we need to go. Right guys?" Before anyone could say anything, Ayumi grabbed Naruto and Sasuke and started dragging them towards the exit, with Sakura following hurriedly behind. Once they handed in the applications, they headed to the exam room. Kakashi was waiting outside, and Ayumi smiled, saying, "Hey, Kakashi! Came to wish us good luck?" He nodded, saying, "Yep. I thought you'd need it." After a moment of silence, he said, "Remember, don't rely just on your strength. Use your heads during these exams." 

Ayumi nodded, smiling. "I know." They went inside, and saw the room was full of Genin who'd been training for a year or more. "Looks like we've got plenty of competition." Ayumi said, smiling. The other rookie's came forward, and Ayumi said, "Hey, guys! Long time no see!" Hara barked happily, and Akamaru looked at her strangely for a moment before barking happily. 

"A wolf?" Kiba questioned. Ayumi smiled, saying, "She's a good friend of mine now." Ino wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck, and a vein pulsed in Ayumi's head as she said, "This isn't the time!!" "Who are you?" Ino questioned, and the vein changed to an anime sweat drop as Ayumi said, "You're pathetic…" Another Genin with silver hair and glasses came forward, saying, "You must be the rookie's." Ayumi felt a chill race down her spine, and she didn't trust him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Kabuto. And you are…" He looked at Ayumi expectantly, and she said, "I don't feel like telling you." 

Before he could question her further, Hara growled, bristling, and Naruto called, "Come over here, Ayumi-chan! Ino and Sakura are gonna fight!" Ayumi sighed, when Kabuto said, "Ayumi…I would've found out anyway." "That's all of the information you're getting." She said, her eyes steely as she separated Sakura and Ino. That's when she turned around to find him talking to the other rookie's. He asked, "Do any of you know more about Ayumi?" Sasuke obviously wasn't going to say anything, and Naruto said, "All you need to know is that she's strong!" Ayumi walked up, saying, "It's not nice to talk about people behind their backs." 

She looked at Naruto, saying, "The exams are going to start soon. You ready?" "I was born ready!" She smiled, saying, "That's good to know." Sasuke said, "Look for Gaara of the Desert and Neji Hyuuga." Kabuto took out a deck of cards, and Ayumi eyed him untrustingly as he showed them the information. Naruto almost seemed…unsure…and Ayumi was about to beat some sense into him when he turned to the rest of the group in the room, yelling, "My name's Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna beat every one of you!" Her eye twitched as she said, "If we die because of this, the next eternity won't be very pleasant, Naruto-kun." 

Sakura started choking him, trying to apologize to the other Genin, and Ayumi smacked her forehead, muttering, "Was he dropped on his head as a baby?" But, inside, she was smiling at his childishness. It felt good to know that SOMEONE believed they could pass. She walked over to Sakura, putting a calming hand on her shoulder, and said, "Calm down. This exam will be easy. Don't worry." Sakura seemed to calm down…when the exam proctor came in with a group of Jounin, saying, "Find a seat away from your teammates for the first phase of the exams!" Ayumi smiled encouragingly at her friends before sitting down in the back, and noticed Kabuto sit a couple seats to her right. 

She glared at him before turning her attention to the proctor. "My name is Ibiki, and I'll be giving the first test. You have a test before you with nine questions. You have an hour to do the test. But you can't get caught cheating, or you'll lose two points out of a total of ten for the test. If you get caught five times, you and your team fail. The test is graded by the total of points for the whole squad, so if one person fails, you all fail." Ayumi saw Sasuke and Sakura glare at a terrified Naruto. "I will give the tenth question when there are fifteen minutes left. Begin!" Ayumi sighed, and started reading through all of the questions. 

Her eyes widened as she thought, 'I don't know a single answer…wait…' she looked at Ibiki, remembering his exact words. 'He said you can't get CAUGHT cheating, but that's the only way to pass…or get any answers…so…this is to check how good we are at gathering information without being detected.' She smirked. 'Good thing the Ayaka Sharingan also has the same abilities as the original Sharingan.' She activated it, not noticing that Kabuto was studying her eyes, and she looked around for someone who knew the answers. She quickly copied down the answers for all of them, and, smiling, deactivated the Ayaka Sharingan and put her pencil down. 

She saw Naruto panicking, and that most of the teams were gone. She looked at Sasuke and Sakura to see they had already caught on, and there was only twenty minutes left of the test. 'Five more minutes before this ends…' she thought as she looked at all of the Jounin. 'But those Jounin aren't as 'eagle eyed' as Ibiki lets on.' Five minutes later, Ibiki said, "It's time for the tenth question!" Ayumi's attention snapped to him in a moment, and she listened to him intently. "If you choose to answer this question and get it wrong…" Ayumi felt nervous as he paused. "…You can never become Chuunin." Ayumi's eyes widened as she said, "BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR!!" 

He ignored her outburst, saying, "But you can choose to leave with your squad and take the exams next year. If you want to leave, raise your hand now." Many teams left, and Ayumi saw Naruto raise his hand, standing. "Naruto-kun…" He slammed his hand on the table, saying, "You can't scare me away! I'm going to become Hokage no matter what!" Ayumi smiled, saying, "Only a coward would leave now." "And why's that?" Ibiki questioned her. "If your not willing to fight for others, what kind of shinobi are you? You shouldn't let your fears hold you back, or you'll end up letting more lives be lost than there should have been." 

She smiled. "And to face your fears makes you stronger, which is what I strive for." "Why do you want to be stronger?" "…Because someone did something…so that I could be…and I'm not about to let their efforts be in vain." When no one else raised their hands, Ibiki said, "You pass!" Ayumi's eyes widened as she said, "Really?" he nodded, and she said, "Oh…I get it now! To be able to risk your life, no matter what, is what you were trying to teach us." He nodded, saying, "You're pretty smart." "And strong." Suddenly, a huge black tarp flew in through the window, and the second exam proctor came in. Ayumi's eye twitched as she thought, 'I feel like she's crazy…' 

Hara didn't seem to mind the woman, so Ayumi didn't say anything aloud. They were soon lead outside, and she showed them a huge, fenced in forest. "This is where the second exam will take place: the Forest of Death!" Ayumi looked worriedly at her teammates, but they didn't seem worried. "You'll get one of two scrolls: A Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll. You'll go out into the forest for three days and obtain the other scroll before going to the finish point in the center of the forest, which is a large tower." Ayumi looked around at the crowd of Genin as Anko kept talking, but her attention snapped to Naruto when Hara barked warningly. 

She saw a kunai cut Naruto's cheek, and Anko appeared behind him. Hara bristled, growling, but Ayumi held her tight. She saw a Genin with a tongue like a snake return Anko's kunai, but Ayumi felt a shiver of fear rush down her spine when they looked at her. She shied her eyes away quickly as Hara's growl shot up to a warning snarl. The Genin brushed past her, and she felt cold rush through her blood from where the contact was made. Naruto came up, asking, "You okay?" She smiled weakly, saying, "I'll be fine." The forms were handed out, and Ayumi finished it so they could get their scroll. When they got the scroll, they decided Sakura could keep the Earth scroll, and they were lead to their gate. 

Hara wanted to go in, and Ayumi smiled. Soon, the gate opened, and they ran in. Hara was ahead of the others, scenting out the other teams, and, after a while, they heard a bloodcurdling scream. Ayumi froze, and Hara whimpered, lowering her ears slightly. Naruto went into the bushes to do some…'business', and Ayumi waited impatiently for him. He came back, but her eyes narrowed untrustingly as Hara snarled. She took out a kunai, throwing it at him. He dodged, and Sakura asked, "What are you doing?! I thought you guys were friends!" "I'm friends with the REAL Naruto." Sakura looked at her questioningly before looking at the Naruto double. 

Ayumi pulled the kunai back with her ninja wire, and said, "You can stop the act. Take off the jutsu." He did, and she smirked, saying, "Looks like you'll be the first person to lose to us." She grabbed her blades, running at him. Their weapons locked, and she did a sweeping kick. He fell, and she kicked him into the air. He flew up pretty far, and she jumped up after him, slashing at him with her blades before kicking him back to earth. He retreated, and they soon found Naruto. Sasuke thought it would be best if they had a password, and said a long, LONG phrase. "I got it…I think…" Ayumi said, holding Hara close. 

Naruto had already forgotten the whole thing, and Ayumi sighed. Suddenly, a strange whirlwind struck, sending her flying away. She hit a tree, and slid down to the ground. She was still holding Hara, and had shielded her from the brunt of the attack. "Ow…my head…" She stood up, but held her head while holding Hara with the other arm. She put the wolf cub down, saying, "Sniff the others out." Hara seemed to nod, and sniffed the air. Her ears perked, and she started following the scents. 

Ayumi followed close behind, and saw a huge snake try to bite Sasuke and Sakura. Her eyes widened when she saw the Genin from before, and she was almost frozen with fear when she remembered her own words…'To face your fears makes you stronger, and that's what I strive for…' Strength flowed through her limbs again, and she grabbed her blades as Hara hid in the shadows. She jumped up, slashing at the Genin so they jumped back. She landed in front of Sasuke and Sakura, asking, "What are you doing here?" "I just came to see Sasuke…" Ayumi's eyes turned steely as she asked, "Are you guys alright?" 

Sakura nodded, saying, "We are now…" Ayumi breathed out a sigh of relief as she positioned her blades across her chest. "Who are you?" The Genin smiled, not answering her question, and her temper flared slightly. She did some hand signs, saying, "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" She ran at the Genin, slashing her blades in front of their chest and stomach. They flew back, and stood again, smirking. "That was harsh, Ayumi." She froze, asking, "How'd you know my name?" "I just need to look at your eyes to know." Ayumi's eyes widened, and he savored it a moment before saying, "Ayumi Uchiha…the only Uchiha in a hundred years with the Ayaka Sharingan." 

He licked his lips with his long tongue. "I wonder what your blood tastes like…" She was frozen with fear, feeling scared, and took a step back. That's when Naruto appeared, and started fighting the enemy. "Naruto-kun…" Ayumi felt the strength die away as courage flowed through her veins. She gripped the handles of her blades tighter before running at the Genin. She did some hand signs, saying, "Twin Technique: Wolf Fang jutsu!" She kicked him in the side while Hara's tail smacked into the side of his head. He flew into another branch, and Ayumi said, "Naruto-kun, be careful!" That's when she saw a huge snake try to eat Sasuke, but she didn't have the chance to move before the Genin put a kunai to her throat. 

"I wouldn't move if I was you…" His tongue lightly touched the base of her neck and her shoulder, and she flinched away from the contact. Naruto's eyes turned red as he glared at the Genin, but Ayumi said, "I'll be fine! Help Sasuke!" Naruto understood, and saved Sasuke before the snake could open its mouth. The Genin behind her poofed, and she saw the real one hit Naruto in the stomach, his fingers glowing with chakra. "NARUTO-KUN!!" Anger, rage, flowed through her body like poison as he dropped an unconscious Naruto on the ground. She did some hand signs, saying, "Twin Technique: Wolf Fang Tornado jutsu!" 

She held her blades out at arms length, and started spinning, making a tornado. Hara's tail glowed before she started running in a circle, creating a tornado as well. The tornados hit him, cutting him deeply, before he flew away. He hit a tree, and stood up, his face cut, but revealed another face underneath it. She stopped spinning, and fear raced down her spine when she noticed his face. Hara whimpered, tail tucked in-between her legs and ears flat against her head. He smirked, saying, "It seems you're powerful without your eyes. And since you're a challenge, I should introduce myself. My name is Orochimaru." 

Ayumi's eyes widened as she said, "Orochimaru…one of the Legendary Sannin…what do you want here?" "I originally came to get Sasuke, but I wouldn't mind getting the Ayaka Sharingan instead…" He licked his lips, and she let her rage fill her blood as she activated the Ayaka Sharingan. "You're NEVER getting the Ayaka Sharingan!" She ran at him, slashing at him with her blades, but he dodged, stabbing her in the heart. She smirked before poofing, and he calmly looked around. Sakura was with Naruto, and her eyes followed the fight with frightened eyes. A volley of kunai flew at him, but he knocked them off course with a single kunai. 

Ayumi jumped down, finishing a sequence of hand signs before saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" She started spinning, and the fire surrounded her like a tornado. She struck him hard, and he flew back into the tree as the fire disintegrated and she stopped spinning. She looked at the body, and saw he had disappeared. She looked around, and felt a presence behind her. She twirled around, almost slashing him in half with her blades, but he grabbed her wrists, throwing her against the trunk. She lay there a moment, feeling too weak to move, and she opened her eyes. Sasuke was fighting him, and he wasn't doing too badly. 

The Ayaka Sharingan deactivated, and she sat up as Hara came over. Hara licked her face, worried, but Ayumi smiled weakly, saying, "I'm fine…" She saw Orochimaru's neck grow long like a snakes and bite Sasuke's neck. "NII-SAN!!!" She stood, and he directed his attention to her. She reached for her blades, but she was knocked back against the trunk when he bit her neck. The force was so great that a crater was made into the trunk, and his neck grew shorter. She put a hand to her shoulder, feeling the blood flowing back into the wound…until a searing pain erupted in her shoulder. She cried out in pain, holding her shoulder tight, and Sakura had Sasuke and Naruto in her arms. 

"Ayumi…" Sakura could almost feel the girl's pain. Ayumi felt like she had been shot in the shoulder, only worse. Ayumi glared at Orochimaru, the pain being almost too much, and he said, "It seems I'll have the Ayaka Sharingan after all, Ayumi. And you tried so hard to keep it a secret…" He smirked evilly. "But you should know that everyone knows who you are. And soon…" He licked his lips. "Your body will be mine and I'll be almost unstoppable." "Teme!" Ayumi spat, still holding her shoulder so tight it almost broke the skin. "My, my…where do you learn those words?" "None of your business!" His smirk grew as he said, "You've got spunk. I've always liked that in a shinobi." 

With that, he disappeared, and his voice echoed through the trees, saying, "I'll be back for you later, little Uchiha." She felt her head swim, and her vision began to darken. 'I'm sorry, Itachi…I haven't gotten any stronger…' the last thing she heard was Sakura calling her name before her mind darkened, dragging her into unconsciousness.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Ayumi awoke in the trunk of a huge tree, and she opened her eyes to see an unconscious Sasuke and Naruto. Her gaze softened, until she turned her head to look up at the ceiling. She saw a Sound shinobi, with holes in his palms, about to kill them. Though she had a throbbing, merciless pain in her shoulder, she did a high kick to his face, hitting him away. She saw Hara, beaten unconscious, at her side, and her eyes grew steely as she stood. She grabbed her blades when she saw a Sound kunoichi holding Sakura by her hair. Ayumi's knees shook gently from weakness, and her shoulder and chest were wracked with pain. "What the HELL is going on?!" She demanded, holding her blades in a defensive pose. 

When they didn't answer, her temper flared. Hara weakly whimpered, and Ayumi kneeled down, softly petting Hara's head. Ayumi didn't have a lot of chakra left, but she was determined to use it. She stood, and did some hand signs before saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" She held her blades out at arms length before moving a safe distance from the tree, and started spinning so fast that fire made a tornado around her. The tornado flew with deadly force at the other two Sound shinobi, but they dodged…barely… The fire dissipated because of Ayumi's lack of chakra, but she wasn't about to give up yet. 

She gripped her blades tighter before running at one of the shinobi. When he held up a weird contraption that was on his arm, the Ayaka Sharingan flashed and she stopped, jumping back. "So YOU'RE the one with the Ayaka Sharingan." She didn't say anything as her mind raced to find a way to win. The Ayaka Sharingan flashed, but she didn't have time to move before the other shinobi blasted her with sound waves. She was able to shield her face and chest with her blades, but she was thrown back, and hit a tree. She slid down to the base of the trunk, feeling too weak to move. "Damn it all…" 

She saw the shinobi that blasted her go towards where Sasuke and Naruto…to kill them. "Sasuke-nii-san…Naruto-kun…" She struggled to rise, but the other shinobi held her down, with his foot crushing her chest. She gritted her teeth in pain, but her strength was gone. She looked worriedly at her teammates, and noticed Lee on the ground, his ear bleeding badly. She struggled, but it was all in vain. She saw Sakura take out a kunai, but Ayumi knew it was futile. That's when Sakura surprised her. Sakura cut her long hair, and Ayumi's eyes widened in shock as Sakura's headband fell off. When the kunoichi went to kill her, Sakura used the Replacement jutsu, dodging. 

As Sakura fought, Ayumi, with great difficulty, took out a kunai. When the Sound shinobi shouted something to his teammate, Ayumi stabbed the kunai into his leg. He cried out, jumping back. She breathed deeply, filling her lungs, before standing. She saw Sakura biting the other Sound shinobi's arm, but he was pummeling her head. "Sakura-chan!" She threw a blade at the Sound kunoichi, saying, "You want to fight somebody, then fight me." She pulled the blade back with her ninja wire, and Sakura was punched off. Ayumi ran in low, throwing kunai at the Sound shinobi, and standing in front of Sakura protectively. She was shaking from chakra exhaustion, and her breathing was labored. 

She knew she didn't stand a chance now. But that wouldn't stop her from fighting. She felt her own strength being drained from her through her shoulder. She looked at her shoulder, and her eyes widened at the mark. It looked like the Mangekyou Sharingan. She looked away, not wanting to see what had burned its way onto her skin. "You know you can't win. Just die quietly." "Sorry…but I can't do that." She smiled. "I could never bring myself to die without a fight. Uchiha's are prideful, you know, and it's the honorable way to die…protecting those closest to you." She held her blades with shaking arms, but she didn't back down. 

That's when Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji jumped in the way. Ayumi smiled, asking, "What took you so long?" before collapsing. Sakura caught her, but she was too weak to even speak. "Ayumi-chan! Ayumi-chan, are you okay?" Sakura questioned, keeping Ayumi from blacking out again. "…I'll…be fine…" Ayumi said, her breathing labored and heavy. When Ino's squad was losing, Neji and Tenten appeared. "…Hey, guys…" Ayumi said weakly, smiling softly. Neji activated the Byakugan, but deactivated it. Ayumi looked at him, confused, until she saw Sasuke. He had black, evil chakra around him. "Nii-san…?" He walked up to Sakura and Ayumi, asking, "Who did this to you?" 

Ayumi was still trying to understand what was going on, and he turned to Sakura. That's when the Sound shinobi with holes in his palms said, "That would be me." Ayumi felt…afraid. "Nii-san…what are you going to…" Before she could finish, the Sound shinobi blasted at them, but Sasuke got all of them out of the way. Ayumi looked up at him surprised, and asked, "Nii-san…how did you…do that…?" "I…don't know…" But the next moment he was fighting the Sound shinobi. Ayumi closed her eyes, trying to regain strength, when she heard a horrible scream. Her eyes shot open, and she saw Sasuke had broken both of the Sound shinobi's arms. 

Her eyes widened with innocence as she whispered, "Nii-san would NEVER do that…he doesn't hurt people unless it's necessary…" She saw him going to the other shinobi, and she shot up. 

"Don't do it, nii-san!" She cried out, and Sakura ran up from behind him, hugging him. Ayumi could see Sakura's tears from a distance, and she stood, though her will was the only thing that kept her moving. She stood in front of him, saying, "You don't need to fight anymore, nii-san. Stop fighting…" Her eyes were begging him to stop, and the marks went back to the cursed seal on his own shoulder. 'The cursed seal…damn Orochimaru!' she thought, but to see the shock in Sasuke's eyes…it tore at her heart. "How…I didn't mean to…" Her gaze softened as she said, "Shhh…I know you didn't mean it…I don't blame you…" 'I blame Orochimaru…' she finished in her head. 

She felt weakness claim her again, and her legs grew dangerously weak. She looked at Naruto, and said, "Take care of them, nii-san…" "Nii-chan, what's wrong?" She smiled weakly, saying, "I've used too much chakra…I'll be fine…" Her vision began to blur as she said, "…I'm sorry…I couldn't do more…to help…" With that, she collapsed, but Sasuke caught her. "Nii-chan! Nii-chan! Nii-chan, wake up! Stay with me, nii-chan!" She smiled weakly, though she was connected to the conscious world by a thread, and whispered, "…Take care of yourself…" before she was dragged into unconsciousness.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

She woke up in a building, being carried in someone's arms bridal style. She opened her eyes slowly to see it was Naruto, and she didn't have the strength to hide her blush. Naruto noticed she was awake, and said, "Ayumi-chan! You're finally awake! Thank God!" She saw them opening both of the scrolls, and Iruka appeared. "Hi, Iruka-sensei." Ayumi said, smiling. "Whoa! What happened to you?" Ayumi stood, still smiling, " I'm fine…really…" She saw Sakura carrying Hara, and took her, gently, into her own arms. Sasuke looked at her, concerned, but she smiled, saying, "I'm fine. I just need some rest." Iruka explained the meaning of the scrolls, and said they could rest until the rest of the teams made it. 

Ayumi was grateful when she was lead into a room, and immediately lay on the bed. Her breathing regulated itself as she drifted into sleep, with Hara beside her. Kakashi was told to check up on her, and went inside when he was sure she was sound asleep. He had heard about what had happened, and checked her shoulder. He sighed, recognizing Orochimaru's mark. It usually meant that he had marked his property, his territory. 'Not this time! He's not messing her life up more than Itachi already has!' Kakashi thought determinedly. He left to tell the Hokage, looking back at her, sympathetically, one last time before leaving. 

When she woke up, she felt completely rejuvenated, and smiled, getting up. It must have been the same with Hara, because she was playing with the covers. Ayumi smiled, stretching, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She grabbed her headband, tying it around her neck, and put her blades on her belt. She looked around, and someone knocked on the door. "Come in." she called, and Kakashi stepped in. "Hi, Kakashi-san. What is it?" "The third part of the exam is going to start soon…" he seemed to want to say something else, so she asked, "What else?" "About that mark on your shoulder…I need to seal it as soon as possible…" "And…" 

"I'll do it after your fight. But be careful. If you use too much chakra, you'll use the curse mark, and I'll have to stop the fight and take you out of the exam." "WHAT?!" "I'm sorry, but I'll have no choice if that mark takes over." Ayumi pouted childishly, saying, "Fine…I suppose it's not your fault…" Hara went up to Kakashi, giving him the puppy-dog eyes, and he sighed, having a weak spot for canines, and scratched her behind the ears. Ayumi stood, putting on her shuriken holster and weapons pouch before saying, "Well…I guess we should go." Kakashi nodded, and led her to the arena, with Hara in Ayumi's arms. 

The Genin stood in rows, and Ayumi stood in front of Naruto, with Sasuke behind him and Sakura in the back. Ayumi looked at all of the Jounin standing behind the Third Hokage, and smiled at Kakashi. The Third started explaining that it would be a fighting tournament, and Ayumi listened intently until she faintly heard Hara growling. The growl was almost too soft to hear, but she felt it through her fingertips. She looked, inconspicuously, in the direction Hara was, and felt that familiar fear freeze her throat and send a jolt down her spine. She shied her eyes away, and saw the names being picked randomly on the screen. 

She held Hara tight, waiting eagerly for the names to be picked, and, when it finally did, it almost made her heart stop. "The first match is Ayumi Uchiha vs. Kabuto. Everyone else should go to the viewing platforms." Ayumi watched as her teammates went onto the viewing platform, but Naruto was cheering her on. She smiled, putting Hara down, and turned to face her opponent. "Who would have thought we'd have to fight each other?" She didn't answer, but took out six kunai. The proctor said, "Begin!" 

Ayumi seemed to disappear for a moment, and appeared behind Kabuto. She tried to stab him, but he blocked, jumping back. She threw the kunai, and some hit him. She grabbed the ninja wire, smashing him into the ground. She pulled the kunai back, dragging Kabuto from the crater, and ran in low, punching him in the stomach. He flew across the arena, and she put the kunai away. Kabuto stood, saying, "Well…you're pretty strong." She didn't say anything, and he smirked, saying, "Giving me the silent treatment, ne?" She didn't answer as she got her blades. He stood, and she slid into a fighting stance. Kakashi prayed she wouldn't use the Ayaka Sharingan, but that's exactly what happened, though she did it on accident. 

"Stop acting so high and mighty. You were unconscious for most of the exam, so how strong are you?" The Ayaka Sharingan activated, and her chakra swirled around her in her anger. "I'm stronger than you'll EVER be!!" She did some hand signs, saying, "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" she ran at him, slashing at him with her blades, making him smash into the wall. She felt a strange sensation in her shoulder, and she noticed her anger had activated the curse mark. She felt the marks, glowing with power, spread across her skin, and she tried to fight the bloodlust it brought with it. She couldn't, and dropped her blades. 

She ran at Kabuto faster than before, holding him up to the wall by his neck. Before she could kill him, Naruto yelled, "Don't do it, Ayumi-chan! This isn't you! Stop it!" Ayumi's eyes widened as the marks went back to her cursed seal, and she released Kabuto. He was defeated, but she shook with fright. She was scared of herself. She looked up at Kakashi, her eyes saying 'I'm so sorry.' Before the proctor announced her the winner. 

She felt weaker, and Kakashi went down to get her. "I'm…so sorry…I didn't mean to…" the Ayaka Sharingan deactivated, and Kakashi said, "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself." Her eyes were downcast, and she said, "But…I want to see…nii-san's fight…" Kakashi thought for a moment before nodding. He had her on his back, so she could see the fights over his shoulder, and Ayumi looked intently at the screen. The next fight was Sasuke's, and she smiled at him, saying, "Good luck! And be careful…" "I will." With that, he jumped down, and the fight started. She looked closely, and saw the enemy start draining his chakra. 

'Oh God…if he loses all of his chakra…the cursed seal will activate…' Ayumi thought, and saw Hara tuck her tail between her legs. Sasuke used a new move, but, while in midair, the curse mark started taking over. "Nii-san…don't lose yourself…" She saw the marks recede, and he finished the enemy off with one move. He collapsed, and Kakashi jumped down with Ayumi on his back, and lifted Sasuke into his arms. They left, and Kakashi took them to a special chamber. He put them down, and put Ayumi in the center of the room. After he was done with the preparations, he sealed the mark. It was as painful as getting the mark, but she gritted her teeth in pain, closing her eyes. 

When it was done, her breathing was labored and heavy. "Ayumi, this seal is only as strong as your will. As long as you want to keep it in check, it won't take over." Ayumi nodded, and he moved her to Sasuke, and put Sasuke in the center. Once both curse marks were sealed, Ayumi sat up, a hand to her head. Kakashi gave her a sympathetic look as he leaned Sasuke against a column, and the Ayaka Sharingan flashed. "Kakashi-san…he's coming…" Kakashi gave her a confused look…until he heard a voice say, "Well, it's been a while, Kakashi." Kakashi started before looking up at Orochimaru, and Hara snarled. 

"What do you want here?" Kakashi demanded, uncovering the Sharingan. "I've come for the girl. Now step aside." "I won't." Ayumi looked at Kakashi, worry in her eyes, as he said, "I'm not letting you add any more grief to her life…she doesn't deserve it…she never did!" Ayumi's eyes became downcast, and she whispered, "But it was my fault…" "This is too troublesome. I'll be back for one of them later." He was gone the next moment, but Hara growled for hours afterward. Kakashi covered the Sharingan, asking, "Are you okay, Ayumi." Ayumi nodded, saying, "Yeah…" Kakashi sighed, picking them both up, and got them hospital rooms. 

"Kakashi-san…tell Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan…I'll be rooting for them…" Kakashi nodded before leaving. She lay there for a moment, happy that Hara had refused to leave, and soon drifted into sleep. She woke up to see Sasuke across the room, still unconscious, and noticed ANBU were watching over them. Suddenly, Kabuto appeared, swiftly defeating the ANBU. Hara jumped at him, sinking her fangs into his leg. He kicked her hard against a wall, and Ayumi shot up, yelling, "HARA!!" She glared at Kabuto, saying, "Don't make me beat you again!" She was about to get up when Kabuto put a knife to her throat, saying, "Don't say a word, or I'll cut your throat." 

She glared hostilely, but she didn't say a word. "Good. Now you're coming with me to Orochimaru…" Her eyes widened, and she moved back, backing up against the wall. "No! I won't!" He put a hand to her mouth, and said, "I thought I said not to talk?" She tried to rip his hand off, but she hadn't regained any strength. "Your lucky you have the Ayaka Sharingan, or you'd be dead by now." She bit his hand, and said, "I'd rather be dead!" "Unfortunately, Orochimaru won't allow that. Now come on…" "GET AWAY FROM ME!!" She yelled, stabbing his hand with a kunai. He gritted his teeth in pain before hitting her hard across the face, making her fall off the bed and hit the floor. 

When she looked back up, she almost thought she saw her father instead of Kabuto. When he raised his foot to kick her, Hara, snarling, bit his foot. He threw her off, and Ayumi threw a kunai at him. He dodged, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. "You're coming whether you want to or not." "LET ME GO!!" She yelled, stabbing him in the back with a kunai. 

Before he could retaliate, a familiar voice said, "Put her DOWN, Kabuto!" Ayumi looked up gratefully at Kakashi, but Kabuto didn't obey. "Why should I?" Ayumi pulled the kunai in his back upwards, cutting him deeply, and he grimaced. "I said put her DOWN, Kabuto!" Kabuto held her out of the open window, saying, "NOW do you want me to put her down?" When Kakashi didn't answer, Kabuto brought her back inside, and she bit his hand so hard she drew blood. He dropped her, and she, luckily, dodged his foot. "Why you little-" At that moment, Ayumi did a sweeping kick, knocking him backwards out of the window. 

She lay on the ground, exhausted, and Kakashi went up, picking her up gently. "…Why me? …Why do all of these bad things happen to me?!" She buried her face in his vest, successfully holding back her tears. Kakashi gave her a sympathetic look, saying, "I'll get someone to train you for the finals, okay? Just rest and you'll get better." She nodded as he put her back in the bed, and tenderly put Hara beside her. Ayumi looked worriedly after him when he moved to leave, and he said, "It's okay. I'll post good ANBU this time…" Ayumi was doubtful, but she had to trust Kakashi. She then went into a fitful slumber, with nightmares haunting her for hours on end. 

When she was finally well enough to get out of the hospital, she had no one to train her! But Naruto did…


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

She was walking around with Hara, thinking of someone to help her train, when she saw Naruto with Jiraiya. She froze, and then walked up. "Hey, Naruto-kun!" "Hi, Ayumi-chan! Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I just got out of the hospital." She turned to Jiraiya, saying, "You're one of the Sannin?" He nodded. "I need help. Do you know where Tsunade is?" He looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "She should be coming here today to go 'sightseeing'. Why?" "I need someone to train me for the finals of the Chuunin exam." "YOU made it to the finals." A vein pulsed in her head as she asked, "And why wouldn't I have?" 

Naruto whispered something in Jiraiya's ear, and he nodded. "Well…she should be at the gates." Ayumi shrugged off her anger, and smiled, saying, "Arigato, Jiraiya-sama!" before running off. She ran to the gates, and saw some people coming in. She looked at all of them, looking for the one that looked anything like the Tsunade she'd heard of, and saw her walk in the gates and go to the right of the gate, parallel to the wall. Ayumi followed like a shadow, leaving Hara behind, and, when they were in the training grounds, Tsunade stopped, asking, "What do you want?" 

Ayumi came out of the shadows, saying, "I'm sorry to have followed you, Tsunade-sama…I'm Ayumi Uchiha, and I was wondering…if you could train me for the Chuunin exams in a month…?" Tsunade sighed, and she was about to decline when Ayumi said, "Please! I want to be strong…like you…" Tsunade turned to look at her as Ayumi said, "I want to be able to rely on my own strength…but I need to be stronger…please! I just need you to teach me!" "Why do you want to be stronger? Just for yourself?" "No…I want to protect what's left of my family…and my friends…" Tsunade sighed, saying, "Then I'll teach you…but you have to be willing to work hard!" "Of course!" Ayumi said, smiling. 

They started training that day, and it was the most rigorous, demanding training Ayumi had ever done. The next day, she said, "Tsunade-sensei…could I get half of the day off…?" "Why?" "…It's the anniversary…" Tsunade's gaze softened, and she said, "Okay…we'll train extra hard this morning, and you'll get the rest of the day off." Ayumi smiled, saying, "Arigato, Tsunade-sensei." After training that morning, Ayumi went to the flower shop, too deep in thought to notice Naruto was following her, wondering what she was doing. She bought a bouquet of white roses, and headed to the Uchiha complex. 

They had made a monument there, engraving all of their names onto a huge stone. Ayumi put the bouquet on the stone, saying, "Here, mom. Remember, their your favorites…'innocent love'…" a sob wracked Ayumi's throat. "That's all you ever gave us…and you died…" she hadn't brought Hara, preferring to be alone on this one day of the year, and she felt tears slide down her cheeks. She only cried on this day, when no one else was around to judge her. She just didn't notice Naruto was watching her. Naruto felt horrible…and was scared out of his wits when Jiraiya appeared behind him. "Why are you following her around?" 

Jiraiya got a sly smile on his face as he whispered, "You like her, don't you?" Naruto blushed, whispering, "Wh-What makes you think th-that?!" Jiraiya didn't need to say it, because it was obvious how he found out, and Naruto shied his eyes away as he said, "I always knew she was broken on the inside, but…she always seemed so happy, so…I just shook off the feeling. But…she'd always go off on this day, every year, and cry. She's been holding in all of her pain…all of her sadness…and I was too closed-minded to notice!" Jiraiya studied him a moment, thinking, 'This isn't just a childish crush…this is love…it's real, and it's hurting him.' 

Ayumi wiped her tears away, saying, "Now what would happen if Sasuke saw me crying? He'd probably want to kill Itachi more than he already does." She sniffed, tracing her mothers name with her pointer finger. "I think everyone except mom, Sasuke, and Itachi would care less if I came into the world…and would probably celebrate it if I left it."  
She looked up at the sky, whispering, "I wish Itachi-nii-san would come back…I don't care why he came back…I just want to see him again…" She wiped the rest of her tears away, looked at the monument one last time, and left in a flash. She landed in the training grounds, and sat in a densely foliaged tree. 

She leaned against the trunk, deep in thought. She closed her eyes, remembering her old life. She felt a chakra close by, so she opened her eyes, looking around. She felt the presence closing in on her, and sat up straight, all her senses on the alert. A kunai hit the trunk of the tree next to her head, and she noticed a note on it. She took it, and read the note: 'It's been a while, nii-chan. I see you've gotten better at detecting people's presences. Unfortunately, I can't see you yet. Maybe another time.' She already knew who it was, and jumped down from the tree, looking around. She thought she heard something, but turned only to see Hara. 

"Hara, see if anyone's in the area!" Hara seemed to nod, and sniffed around. She didn't find him, and Ayumi sighed. She wondered if she'd EVER see him again…


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

After training all month, the finals for the Chuunin exams had finally arrived. Ayumi wore what looked like ANBU armor, only lighter and it was all white except for the black edges. She had it specially made, and was pulling it on with pride. Once every little piece was on, she smiled, pulling her hair into a ponytail and brushing her bangs to the sides of the face with her hand. Once she was done, Kakashi came in, saying, "You look like you belong in ANBU…" "Maybe I will…someday." "I need to get Sasuke anyway. If I don't make it in time, I want to wish you good luck in your fight." She smiled brightly, saying, "I'll be fine, but thanks for the luck." 

She then called Hara over, and put armor plating on her back and the fronts of her legs. Under the back plates, she hid a packet of senbon with poison on the tips. She had already taught Hara to lightly kick the front of her hind legs to make the senbon appear, and to do it again to shoot them. But Ayumi was careful not to give her the signal. She left an hour early, and made it there with fifteen minutes to spare. The only thing that worried her was that Naruto and Sasuke weren't there yet. Naruto was almost late, but he flew into the arena. Ayumi looked up at the stands, but didn't even look for Tsunade's face. Tsunade had left early that morning, to go gambling, but wished Ayumi luck. 

Naruto asked, "Where'd you get the cool armor, Ayumi-chan?" "I had it custom-made. It has everything I could ever need." "I wish I had something like that…" She smiled warmly. "You just need yourself, Naruto-kun. You're strong, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise." That's when the proctor said that the matches would be starting. The first match was between Naruto and Neji. "Good luck, Naruto-kun. I know you'll beat him." With that, she went with the other shinobi to the viewing station. She saw the Sand shinobi, but she stayed a fair distance away, since Hara was scared of Gaara. She watched Naruto's fight with confidence, cheering him on enthusiastically. 

When Naruto won, Ayumi cheered as loudly as Naruto was below. Kankurou forfeited his match, and Shikamaru's was next. He didn't seem too enthusiastic about it, and Naruto came back up, accidentally hitting Shikamaru over the railing. "NARUTO-KUN!!" she smacked Naruto upside the head before calling down, "SHIKAMARU-KUN!!! YOU OKAY!?!" "Yeah…I'm fine…" She studied this fight closely, and pulled on her black gloves, with a silver plating on the back, when Shikamaru forfeited. "WHAT?!" Naruto yelled, almost falling over the railing. "The next match will be Temari vs. Ayumi!" The proctor announced. Ayumi picked Hara up and jumped down. 

She set her down, and Temari said, "You might as well forfeit now. You'll never win." "On the contrary: YOU'LL never win." She said this with a sly smile, and got into a fighting stance as the proctor said, "Begin!" Temari waved her fan, making the slicing wind race at Ayumi. She already knew that was coming, and punched the ground so hard that rock and earth flew up in front of her, taking the attack. She disappeared in a moment, and appeared behind Temari, and aimed a chakra-filled kick to Temari's side, making her fly away. She slid into her fighting stance again, saying, "I thought this would have been harder. Guess I was wrong." 

She ran at Temari before she could raise her fan, and hit her with a chakra-filled punch in the stomach, making her fly into the wall, making a crater. She was beaten, and Ayumi hadn't even needed to use the Ayaka Sharingan. She smiled brightly as she was proclaimed the winner, but she couldn't shake off the feeling that…someone was watching her. Someone evil. Naruto was cheering for her, and she smiled broadly, picking Hara up. She was walking towards the stairs, but she looked back at the arena, wondering if Sasuke was going to make it in time, when both him and Kakashi appeared in a swirl of leaves. She smiled, relieved, before saying, "Thank God! You guys finally got here! They were about to disqualify you!" 

She turned to Kakashi. "Do you know what I would have done to you if you had gotten my nii-san disqualified? …No? Well, you don't want to know!" "Okay! Okay! Calm down! I didn't, so chill!" She breathed deeply, and said, "Good luck, nii-san. Your fight's next." "How'd your fight go?" Kakashi questioned. "I won easily." She said with a smile, and Hara barked happily. "Good. I knew you'd do well. Go up with Naruto, okay?" She nodded, and headed for the stairs. As she walked up, Hara whimpered, hiding her head under Ayumi's arm, and she looked over the railing to see Gaara mercilessly kill two men. She froze with fear, her heart beating wildly against her ribcage. 

He walked past her silently, but it felt like an eternity before she could calm her racing heart. 'Oh my God! Nii-san!' she ran up the stairs, heading for the stands, and ran in, seeing Naruto and Shikamaru already there. "Kakashi-san! Stop the fight!" Kakashi turned to her, giving her a questioningly look. "I don't want him to die! Stop the fight!" Naruto tried to calm her, but her fear was too wild. "Ayumi, calm down. He'll be fine." She looked at the fight to see a huge ball of sand, which she guessed was Gaara, and Sasuke on the wall…using Chidori. "…Y-You taught him th-that?" Kakashi nodded, and Gai started boasting about its power, and its nickname, 'Lightning Blade'. 

Ayumi looked uncertainly at the fight as Sasuke ran at the ball of sand, piercing it. An ear-piercing scream erupted from Gaara. "MY BLOOD!!!" It made Ayumi quake, and Hara hide her head deeper under Ayumi's arm. Sasuke jumped back, showing a strange arm. Ayumi froze with terror at the sight, and the ball of sand broke down. An explosion erupted from the platform where the Hokage was sitting, and Temari and Kankurou took Gaara away, with Sasuke following close behind. Ayumi was about to follow when strange feathers filled the air. She did a hand sign, saying, "Dispel!" She turned to see only Kakashi, Gai, and Sakura were still awake. She asked, "What's going on?" 

"We're under attack." Kakashi said, trying to act calm. Ayumi put Hara down, and said, "Well, I'll kill every single enemy. No one attacks MY home and gets away with it!" she was about to go after Sasuke when an ANBU appeared in front of her. She had a curious look before a few Sound shinobi appeared behind him. "Traitor!" She spat, and Hara growled. The Sound shinobi jumped at her all at once, and she did some hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" she started spinning, and the fire burned all of the shinobi out of commission. She stopped spinning, and slid into a fighting stance, daring the ANBU traitor to fight her. 

"Maybe I won't…but I bet Orochimaru liked your rapid progress. He must have enjoyed the show." Ayumi's heart almost stopped, but she kept on her impassive face as well as Itachi could, and said, "I'm not going anywhere, if that's what you want. I'm staying in Konoha. I'm going to protect my family." "Isn't your family dead?" She flinched. "They're not blood related, so how are they family?" "They helped me through the hardest time of my life! Stayed with me through everything! Just like a family should! We may not be blood-related, but we have the same home, the same goal…" She stabbed a Sound shinobi in the heart as he came up behind her. "And our Will of Fire binds us together as strong as blood!" 

"A Touching speech…but you're still coming with me." "I thought I said I wasn't going to." She punched the floor, making a crater. "And I don't think you're in a position to boss me around." The Ayaka Sharingan blazed as she stood up straight, and Hara snarled beside her, bristling. "I'd leave if I were you. You can't win." She ran at him at a fast pace, punching him hard in the stomach, but he smirked under his mask, grabbing her wrist, and squeezed her neck with his other hand. "So this is what the Ayaka Sharingan looks like…" He studied her eyes, and she spat into his face. "A little temperamental, I see." "Stuck up teme!" she snarled, and she gave Hara the sign. 

Hara tapped her hind legs twice, and five poisoned senbon flew at the ANBU, hitting him either in the arm or the side. He released Ayumi, who smirked, saying, "Paralysis poison. Soon, you won't be able to move." Hara snarled at him as he glared at Ayumi. "You're pretty good. No wonder Orochimaru favors you over Sasuke." "We're basically the same." "Of course. You're twins. I remember now. But you're the older." "Only by an hour." She said, and she did a powerful spinning kick, hitting two Sound shinobi unconscious. "You can't distract me that easily." She said triumphantly. She then looked up where the Hokage was, and saw him fighting…Orochimaru… 

She gasped slightly, but held back most of it, managing to say, "He came here…" "To destroy your precious home and family, and take you as a prize." She glared at the ANBU, saying, "You don't know if it'll work…" "But you don't know if it won't." She glared at him, before noticing that Sakura, Naruto, and Shikamaru were gone. The ANBU left, and she ran to Kakashi, asking, "Where are they?" "They went to get Sasuke." Ayumi's eyes widened in shock, and she raced after them, Hara sniffing the way. She soon found Naruto fighting Gaara all on his own, with Sakura being choked by a sand arm and the curse mark taking Sasuke over. 

She saw Gaara was like a small sand raccoon, and she hid in the shadows, watching curiously. Gaara swung at Naruto, and Ayumi intervened, doing some hand signs and saying, "Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!" The sand turned to glass, and she jumped down in front of Naruto. "Ayumi-chan!" "Be careful, Naruto-kun." 

She saw Gaara's sand regenerate, reminding her of her own healing abilities. "Ayumi…why are you interfering? Why can't you let me kill them?" "They're precious to me, and I'll protect them with my life." She slid into her fighting stance, ready to fight. Gaara swung at her, and she punched the hand, shattering the sand. The other hand went to hit Naruto, but she pushed him out of the way, and the hand grabbed her. He lifted her into the air, crushing the air from her body. She coughed up blood, gritting her teeth in pain. "You care too much for others. You should care only for yourself. Forget about them and live only for yourself…" 

Ayumi gave him a stubborn look, saying, "When I protect them…it's like protecting a piece of my heart…its nice…living to protect others…" "AYUMI-CHAN!!!" Ayumi turned her head to look at Naruto, and smiled weakly, saying, "Naruto-kun…protect nii-san…and Sakura-chan…" "But…Ayumi-chan…" "Promise me!" After a moment of silence, Naruto nodded, saying, "I promise I'll protect them, Ayumi-chan." She nodded, and aimed a chakra-filled kick at Gaara's arm. It struck, shattering the sand, but his hold became a death grip. She coughed up blood as Naruto cried out, "AYUMI-CHAN!!!!!" The hand fell off, and made her impact on the ground even harder. 

Her breathing was becoming difficult, and Gaara said, "The sand will crush her soon. Unless you defeat me, she'll die." Naruto looked down at her, saying, "She's the most selfless person I know. She's never done anything for herself. She helped all of us through the hardest times of our lives…now its time I returned the favor." Ayumi watched the fight, though her mind was darkening, and she soon blacked out altogether. She woke up as her breathing became easier, and looked around to see that the sand had fallen away. She sat up, a hand to her heart, and tried to calm herself. 'Thank God! Naruto did it! Wait…NARUTO-KUN!!' she stood up in a flash, looking around frantically for him, and saw him lying on the ground. 

"Naruto-kun!" She called, running towards him. She kneeled down beside him, whispering, "Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun, are you alright?" "Yeah…I guess I'm okay…" "Thank God! You're going to be okay, Naruto-kun." She looked up to see Sasuke, and said, "Nii-san…your mark…" "I know…" She stood, putting a hand on his shoulder, and whispered, "But I thought Kakashi sealed it?" "I used too much chakra." 

She turned to Sasuke, saying, "I'll carry you guys back. We're not too far…" "You can't carry all three of us!" Ayumi smiled, saying, "I trained in strength, nii-san. I think I can manage." She lifted Naruto into her arms, and Sasuke put Sakura on her back. They sped to Konoha, and Ayumi expected to be met with the Third Hokage's wide smile, but it seemed to have…disappeared. She searched for Kakashi, and found him. "Kakashi-san, what's wrong-" She was cut short at the sight before her. The Third Hokage was dead. 

Tears filled her eyes as she whispered, "Why is it that everyone I love dies?" "Ayumi, it wasn't your fault. He did it for the village…" "Because Orochimaru wanted me!" She yelled, her temper flaring in her emotionally weakened state. "He wanted the Ayaka Sharingan, and he was willing to destroy all of Konoha to get it! It's my fault! It's always my fault when people die!" With that, she disappeared, and Jiraiya looked at Kakashi, worried, and asked, "What are you going to do?" Kakashi sighed. "…I don't…she's always been fragile when it comes to the loss of the people closest to her…since her clan was nearly wiped out…" "…That's why she protects her friends so fiercely…" 

"Especially Naruto and Sasuke…" "I see why she protects Sasuke, but why Naruto?" Kakashi looked thoughtful as he said, "I think she loves him. But I don't know for sure…" Jiraiya nodded. ANYWAY…back with Ayumi. She had raced to the Uchiha monument, and sat on top of it, crying. The tears couldn't be held back. Every special memory she'd ever shared with the Third Hokage flashed before her eyes, and the tears became heavier. She heard footsteps, but she couldn't hide if she'd wanted to. Naruto walked up, looking downhearted, and said, "Ayumi-chan…come here…" Ayumi got down, and hugged him tight, crying into his shirt. 

"…He's GONE…he can't be gone! …He was always there! He can't just DIE like that!" she said into his shirt, muffling the words. "I know…we're all going to miss him…" Naruto said soothingly, stroking her head. "…It's all because of me…" "It's not your fault! The Third knew what he had to do, and he did it. You can't keep blaming yourself…" Kakashi was watching them from a distance, thinking, 'Naruto is actually UNDERSTANDING? This is a weird day…but I'm sure they'll show their feelings to each other soon enough…'


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

At the Third Hokage's funeral, Ayumi didn't say a word, no matter who talked to her or what they said. Sasuke even tried to start a fight, just to hear her voice, but she refused to even open her mouth. She had tears hidden in her eyes, and only the people closest to her knew they were there. Everyone got in line to put a flower on the grave, and a silent tear ran down Ayumi's cheek as she put it down, all of her precious memories flashing before her eyes. 'I could have just let them take me…then he'd still be alive…I wouldn't have lost anyone else…only myself…' 

She moved back to her spot, wiping the tear away, and looked into the dark clouds, letting the rain cool her face and wash away the remnants of her tears. She felt the tears burn her eyes, and she vowed silently, 'I'll kill Orochimaru…even if it's the last thing I do!' she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders comfortingly, and looked to her side to see Naruto. He'd been almost as quiet as she was, and was offering her a shelter from the pain and grief that was tearing at her heart like claws. 

She buried her head in his shoulder, sobbing quietly. She listened to the steady beating of his heart, and thought, 'I can't lose him…he's the only refuge I have left…the only place where I can be myself…I'll protect him…from everything…just like he did for me…'


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It had been a week or so since the Third Hokage's funeral, and Ayumi was still depressed and reserved. Naruto did his best to cheer her up, but he only got a weak smile at best, and it was usually forced, to make him feel better. She was using her super strength to lift a few heavy beams onto her shoulder and take them where they were needed, when Naruto ran up. "Hey, Ayumi-chan! Ero-sennin is taking me to find Tsunade!" "Really?" She questioned, putting the beams down. "Yeah. He wanted me to find you, so you could help us find her." "Sure. But I need to get ready first." 

He nodded, running off to tell Jiraiya, while she ran to her house. She opened the door, and put on her armor, yelling, "KAKASHI-SAN!!! I'M GOING WITH JIRAIYA TO FIND TSUNADE-SENSEI!!" She had just finished, securing her headband around her neck, and put Hara's armor into her backpack, along with a change of clothes and food, before whistling. Hara ran in, overjoyed, and Ayumi took a headband, with Hara's name engraved on it, and tied it around the pup's neck snuggly. That's when Kakashi walked in, saying, "You should be careful, Ayumi. You never know what'll happen." "I'll be fine, Kakashi-san." She said with a small smile, putting her backpack on her shoulder. 

"Jiraiya-sama will take care of me and Naruto-kun." She hugged him, saying, "Good bye." And left with a happy Hara. She met Jiraiya and Naruto at the gate, and Naruto was impatient to set off. They finally did, and Naruto explained that Jiraiya was going to teach him a new jutsu. "Really? What jutsu?" She questioned Jiraiya. "It's a secret…" "At LEAST tell me the element of the jutsu!" "Fine…it's a wind jutsu…" "Really? Can you teach me, too? PLEASE! I LOVE wind jutsu!" "…Fine…" She smiled, and Naruto was relieved to see the real Ayumi coming back. 

They walked up to a bridge, when Jiraiya was fed up with Naruto calling him Ero-sennin, and did a dramatic speech, hopping around on the bridge, and saying how LEGENDARY he was…Ayumi just stared for a moment, uncaring, before both her and Naruto walked right by him without a word. Jiraiya eventually caught up with them, and they reached a city. Ayumi thought they were going to keep going, but Jiraiya bought a room. "Are you serious?! We have to keep moving!" "If you want to learn my jutsu, you have to do as I say." "Lazy son of a-" before she could finish her insult, Jiraiya saw a beautiful young woman and practically ran off with her, saying something about 'practice', 'chakra control', and 'the room'. 

Luckily, he gave Naruto the key, and Ayumi sighed, saying, "Let's go." They walked into the room, and Ayumi sighed when she saw there were only two beds. "There are only two beds…Jiraiya's sleeping on the floor." She said the last part decidedly, sitting down on one of the beds. 

She sat Indian-style on the bed, meditating, when Hara barked, snapping her out of it. "What is it, Hara?" She questioned, but Hara just ran around in a circle a couple of times before running under the bed. Ayumi quirked an eyebrow, confused, and Naruto asked, "Anything wrong?" "No…I don't think so…" She looked at the door uncertainly before closing her eyes, steadying her breathing. That's when someone knocked on the door. Hara whimpered audibly, and Ayumi tried to coax her out while Naruto went to open the door. In a moment, the room was silent, stifled by fear, and Ayumi felt a chill race up her spine before turning to see Naruto at the open door, scared stiff. 

She was against the wall, and had instinctively masked her chakra. She couldn't hear the words exchanged, but she grabbed Hara's armor, calling her silently over, and put it on soundlessly before putting on her gloves. She saw Naruto go out into the hall, and moved right next to the doorway, pressing her ear to the wall. She hid a deeper voice say, "It'll be a hassle if he can run away. Maybe I should cut off a leg." Her heart nearly skipped a beat, and she didn't hear a reply from the second person. "Okay then." Fear constricted her throat, and Hara didn't move, paralyzed with fear, when Ayumi jumped out, standing in front of Naruto protectively. 

"YOU'RE NOT CUTTING ANYONE!!" She hit the one with the sword with a chakra-filled punch, sending him all the way down the hall. "Ayumi-chan! I thought you would never come!" "Nonsense, Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" At that moment, she turned to see the other shinobi, and her heart beat with pain and joy to recognize her nii-san. 

"I-Itachi? What are you doing here?" 

"We came for Naruto." She felt uncomfortable, seeing those crimson eyes again. "You're going to hurt him, aren't you?" He didn't answer, but she knew the answer already. She'd always been able to read him, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.  
Before she could protest, the other man had gotten up and walked over. "I'm gonna kill her!" she slid into a fighting stance, daring him, and he swung his sword at her. She kicked the sword away, holding it down with her foot, before punching him in the stomach. He grabbed her wrist, but she locked her knees, holding fast, and threw him over her shoulder. 

"Not so tough NOW, are you?" she mocked, hands on her hips. Naruto's jaw dropped, and Kisame must have been more surprised than he was. He stood, eyeing her warily, and said, "You might be harder to fight…" He raised his sword, making her tense. "But he isn't that tough at all." The sword was coming down on Naruto, and Ayumi moved without a moment's hesitation, pushing Naruto out of the way. She couldn't dodge in time, so the sword cut down the whole length of her left arm. She gritted her teeth in pain, holding the wound with her right hand. 

She looked at her arm, feeling the blood seep through her fingers, and saw the blood glow with chakra, and start flowing back into the wound. Everyone stared, though she tried to hide it with her other arm as the wounds completely healed, not even leaving a scar. "I didn't know you had that ability…" Itachi said, still looking at her arm, where the armor and cloth had been ripped away. She saw Naruto on the other side of the hall, still scared, and she said, "Naruto-kun, get over here!" 'I can't protect him from this distance…' Naruto started moving, but Kisame stabbed his sword into the ground between them, making the floor shatter, making Naruto fall… 

"NARUTO-KUN!!!" She jumped, grabbing his hand, and slammed onto the edge of the hole. "A-Ayumi-chan…" "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" "Y-Yeah…I'm fine…" She smiled, relieved, and was about to lift him up when something heavy slammed into her back, holding her down. She looked over her shoulder, glaring at Kisame. "God! How fat ARE you?" She complained, feeling like her spine was going to snap any second. "If you let him go, I'll get off." "NO!!" "Ayumi-chan…" Ayumi looked down at Naruto, feeling his grip weakening. "Just let me go…take care of yourself…" "I won't! If you wouldn't stop defending me, then why should I stop doing the same for you?!" 

She was stubborn, that was her nature, and she was determined to see this through. She looked at the ceiling, saying, "Remember the tree climbing exercise, Naruto-kun?" He nodded, and she smiled, saying, "Good." He got her hint when she used her enormous strength to throw him feet-first at the ceiling. "Would you look at that! I let him go…" she gave Hara the signal, and she shot the poisoned senbon at Kisame, who jumped off. She stood, rubbing her stiff neck, and said, "Awww! My neck! Thanks for the stiffening pain, teme!" Naruto came down next to her, still looking worried, and Ayumi was able to loosen her neck muscles. 

She sighed, cracking her fingers, before saying, "You know I'm not letting you take Naruto-kun without a fight, so who's first?" Hara snarled at both of them warningly, while standing beside Ayumi. Once Itachi glanced at Hara, she whimpered slightly, hiding behind Ayumi's legs. Kisame gave Itachi a questioning look, and he stepped forward. She activated the Ayaka Sharingan, staring unafraid into his Sharingan. She grabbed her blades, ready to move, when Itachi said, "It's been a while, Sasuke…" her heart beat wildly as she thought, 'Oh God! Not Sasuke! He'll get killed!' "Get away from her! You've hurt her enough!" Sasuke yelled at Itachi. 

He used Chidori, and ran at Itachi full speed. Ayumi turned away, burying her face in Naruto's chest, when she felt the force of the impact against her back. She heard Naruto gasp, and looked up to see Itachi holding Sasuke's wrist, completely unharmed from Chidori. She knew what he was going to do, and yelled, "Don't hurt him, nii-san!" but it was too late. He snapped Sasuke's wrist, and he fell to the ground in pain. "SASUKE-NII-SAN!!!" She tried to run to his side, but Naruto held her back. "You can't help him now." Naruto said, feeling horrible when she said, "But I have to do SOMETHING!! He's my nii-san! Let me help him!" 

Naruto turned her around to face him, saying, "You can't do anything for him now, so do what you were going to do before!" Her eyes widened slightly in understanding, and she nodded. She gripped her blades tighter, turning to face Itachi, and said, "I'm not going to hold back, nii-san." "I wouldn't want you to, nii-chan." Kisame was shocked for a moment before saying, "Wait a sec…you two are brother and sister?" "Well DUH, retard! Can't you see the family resemblance? Or are you as blind as you are stupid?!" "You know what, if you want to keep your tongue, you'd better stop that language!" "Make me." She dared, deadly calm. 

"Kisame…this is my fight." "Okay, okay…" Ayumi faced her older brother, her eyes as red as the blood flowing in her veins, and she slid into a fighting stance. She thought she saw his hands move, but she wasn't sure. Her eyes widened for a moment, and she tried to move, but it was too late. She was caught in a Genjutsu. It was like the whole world was a glowing white color, like an empty space, and the only two people that were there were Ayumi and Itachi. 

She looked around, wondering what it was supposed to be, when Itachi said, "This is your mind. Think of anything, and it'll appear." She looked around, thinking of her memories, and what looked like a movie slowly moved by her, showing the night that her, Sasuke, and Itachi had played board games because Sasuke hurt his ankle, and another flew by showing when she fought Zabuza. "Do you always do dangerous things?" Itachi questioned, looking at all of the screens flying around the space. A specific screen was much larger than the others, and moving at a snail-like speed. It showed her reaction to the Third's death. 

'He wanted the Ayaka Sharingan, and he was willing to destroy all of Konoha to get it! It's my fault! It's always my fault when people die!' It echoed in the space, though it wasn't enclosed, and Ayumi's knees shook. It then showed the funeral, and a tear slid down her cheek. "…It was all my fault…I shouldn't even be alive…I only bring pain…" she whispered, grabbing a kunai. Itachi grabbed her wrist, saying, "You shouldn't kill yourself for something like that." "Like I have anything else to live for! YOU killed the people I was training to protect!" She could feel his guilt now, and he said, "You don't know what they were going to do…" "Then TELL me!" 

He seemed reluctant, and he said, "All you need to know is that it would have ruined your life." She looked up at him, and, after a moment, all her anger ebbed away. She felt tears building in her eyes as she hugged him tight, crying into his cloak. "I missed you! I missed you so much it hurt! I missed you as much as I miss mom…" She couldn't help it. He was still her nii-san. It was like he hadn't change at all, and he was still comforting her…like Naruto did… "If you really want to know what they were planning, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell Sasuke." She nodded, looking up at him with wide, innocent eyes, something he'd never forgotten. 

"Okay…Okay, I'll tell you…"


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

At that moment, she felt arms wrap around her stomach, but she didn't see anybody else. "Ayumi-chan…" She heard Naruto's voice faintly call out her name. "Naruto-kun…" she whispered, and she wanted to get out. She wanted, NEEDED, to see Naruto again, and she tried to move away from Itachi. "Forget about him, nii-chan…he'll cause you nothing but pain…" "But…I love him…" she whispered almost too softly to hear. "I love him, so I can't forget him!" she said, louder this time. She thought she felt a rapid heartbeat in her back, and she said, "I need to see him again…" she said, her voice faltering as tears weld up in her eyes. "Ayumi-chan…Ayumi-chan…" "Naruto-kun!" 

She tried to see him, but he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, he appeared, hugging her from behind, but he seemed almost like a ghost. "Naruto-kun!" "Ayumi-chan…I love you, too…" "Naruto-kun…" she felt a tear, and turned away from Itachi, hugging Naruto. She saw that he was becoming more solid, and that the world was starting to…dissolve…if only slightly. "Naruto-kun…" he looked at her curiously, and she smiled, saying, "I've wanted to do this so many times…" she put her hands on both cheeks, and pulled him into a kiss. She heard more than one gasp, but it was a sweet, innocent kiss, and it broke the Genjutsu. 

She felt Naruto's shock, but it disappeared, and he kissed her back. The ones who were REALLY surprised were her brothers, who remembered every single time she said she'd NEVER fall in love, NEVER have a boyfriend, and NEVER kiss a guy. It was like the F!$#$ing Apocalypse! She smiled when they separated, and Naruto blushed, saying, "You…you really mean it?" "I mean it, Naruto-kun! I'd never lie to you!" "Awww…and that cute?" she glared at Kisame, tensing. "Maybe I should kill him in front of you…just to see what you'd do…" 

Naruto saw the curse mark start glowing, and saw the marks start spreading down her exposed arm. "If you do…I'll get to see what color your blood is…" Naruto said, "Ayumi-chan! Don't!" the marks were already taking over, and the bloodlust came with it. "I'm gonna kill you!" She ran at him, hitting him so hard he almost went through the wall. She gripped his throat tight, saying, "Prepare to die!" That's when Naruto came up to her, saying, "Ayumi-chan! Snap out of it!" "Stay out of this, Naruto-kun!" He turned her around so she'd face him, and kissed her. Surprise turned to realization as the marks started receding back into the mark, and she cried, saying, "Why am I cursed? What did I ever do to anybody?" 

"You didn't do anything, Ayumi-chan…its just greed…" He hugged her tight, walking away with her, trying to get away from Kisame before he blew up like a volcano…which he did…"I'M GONNA KILL HER!!!" Naruto wrapped his arm around her shoulders, as if that would shield her from all the pain and sorrow in the world. When Kisame was about to strike them with his sword, there was a puff of smoke, and a giant frog protected them. "Jiraiya-sama…" Ayumi said through her tears as he appeared behind them. He said this retarded speech, and Naruto yelled at him for being late and all that. "What happened to her?" That's when Jiraiya saw her curse mark. "Oh God…" 

"Orochimaru marked her." Jiraiya looked up at Itachi. "And why would YOU care?" "She's my nii-chan, whatever happens to her IS my business." "I can't…even control myself…what kind of shinobi AM I…" she whispered, her words muffled by Naruto's jacket. "You're a powerful kunoichi! Even without the Ayaka Sharingan! You just need to learn how to control yourself…" Jiraiya could see her suffering, and said, "Well…I'll destroy these two…" "NO!" Even Ayumi's head snapped up to see Sasuke standing. "The only one destroying Itachi is me!" Sasuke ran at Itachi, about to punch him, but Itachi easily dodged and hit him away. "Sasuke-nii-san…" 

Naruto put her head in his chest, not wanting her to see the beating. "He's going to die! I'm going to lose him…" she whispered, crying. That's when Itachi used the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Sasuke's screams echoed throughout the hall. "SASUKE-NII-SAN!!" She broke from Naruto's hug and ran to her brother, though Kisame was prepared to kill her. "AYUMI-CHAN!!" She grabbed Itachi's arm, saying, tears streaming down her cheeks, "Stop, nii-san! Stop hurting him!" That's when Jiraiya said, "Frog Stomach jutsu!" The walls turned soft and pink, and it sucked Sasuke in, though he was unconscious. 

She sighed with relief, though the tears still wouldn't stop, and Naruto yelled, "AYUMI-CHAN!! LOOK OUT!!" At that moment, Itachi grabbed her by the throat and held her up. "If you really want to know what they were going to you, I'll just show you." He activated the Mangekyou Sharingan, and her eyes widened in fear as she activated the Ayaka Sharingan at the last moment. She was dragged into the world of black, white, and red, and she looked around fearfully. 

She seemed almost like a ghost as she saw the entire Uchiha clan, except the children, in the meeting hall. "Since we finally have another descendant with the Ayaka Sharingan, she must be engaged immediately, before she becomes anymore rebellious!" "E-Engaged?" Ayumi whispered, disbelieving. "As tradition states, the one with the Ayaka Sharingan must marry the one with the strongest Sharingan of the opposite gender." It hit Ayumi like a million kunai. 'Itachi-nii-san…' "We all know who that is, so we need not go into long introductions. We'll tell her on the day of the next full moon." "Wait…that's the day they died…" she whispered, shaking. "What happens if she refuses?" a voice questioned. "She'll be forced! Unfortunately, we can't kill her, but we can make her do it." "And it would have killed me on the inside…" she whispered, the tears coming back. "Itachi-nii-san! Let me out!" The commas on the Ayaka Sharingan began to spin, and he appeared behind her, saying, "You finally understand…" She turned away from all of them, saying, "They really…didn't care…" "There's one more thing they hid from you…" she looked up at him with hurt, innocent eyes, and he continued. "The only way for you to achieve the same power as the Mangekyou Sharingan, which is called the Yamashita Sharingan, is to kill the one you love." Ayumi backed away, saying, "I couldn't! I couldn't! It would be like killing myself!" "You need to learn that emotions are what are killing you." "But I'm only human! I can't be perfect! Stop acting like dad!" That obviously hit a nerve, and she said, "Just let me out…" He didn't answer, but it seemed Naruto had appeared. "Naruto-kun!" she ran to him, but Itachi was faster. He stood behind Naruto with a sword, and her eyes widened as he slashed Naruto in the back, making his blood splash onto her. "NARUTO-KUN!!" Her tears mixed with the blood, and the mark started glowing, adding strength to the Ayaka Sharingan. "I loved him…I LOVED HIM, AND YOU KILLED HIM!!!" She ran at him, lashing out furiously, when, suddenly, the world seemed to suddenly disappear, and she was back in the hallway, the mark agitated but sealed, and the Ayaka Sharingan flickering weakly with draining power. 

Itachi dropped her, and both him and Kisame ran. She sat there, processing all that she had heard, when Naruto ran to her side. "Ayumi-chan! Ayumi-chan, are you okay?" She smiled weakly, saying, "Yeah…he didn't really hurt me in that world…" 

'He hurt you…' she thought as the marks glow died away. Naruto looked around as the pink flesh turned back into the normal wall, and Sasuke was against the wall. Jiraiya went up to him, saying, "The technique made him unconscious. The only one who could heal him is Tsunade…" That's when Gai kicked him in the face through the hole in the wall. After getting pissed at Gai, Jiraiya let Gai take Sasuke. "What about Ayumi?" Gai questioned. "I'll be fine." She smiled. "And I need to learn a new jutsu anyway!" 'Just like Naruto…only thinking of training…' Gai thought as he left. Naruto lifted Ayumi into his arms bridal style, saying, "What now, Ero-sennin?" 

"We keep moving." 'I hope we find Tsunade-sensei soon…I really miss her…' that was Ayumi's last thought before she fell asleep in Naruto's arms.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

They reached a town when Jiraiya said they'd stop. Ayumi had healed pretty well by then, and he said they'd start training the next day, but to enjoy the festival today. Ayumi and Naruto split off from Jiraiya, and started going to the booths. Ayumi didn't play any of the games, though she looked at the prizes with interest. Naruto would play, and always picked the ones she wanted. After that, he'd give them to her. "Arigato, Naruto-kun!" she would say, kissing him on the cheek. Soon, she was carrying an armful of prizes, and she said, "Maybe we should call it a day, Naruto-kun?" "Sure…" He got them some food, for lunch, and they had a small picnic. 

Ayumi smiled at Hara, who was having trouble eating a squid, and laughed when she saw Naruto having the same problem. "What's so funny?" Naruto questioned. "Nothing…" she said slyly. Naruto sat in front of her, asking, "What's so funny?" "I said nothing…" He smirked, kissing her neck lightly, making her giggle. "What are you two doing?" Their heads snapped up to see Jiraiya looking at them. "N-Nothing…we were just eating…" Ayumi said, standing with Naruto. "Well…we're going to the hotel now. Come on." They followed Jiraiya, holding hands when he wasn't looking, and they soon reached the room. 

"Remember, I'm gonna start teaching you the new jutsu tomorrow, so you better eat and sleep now." Ayumi nodded, and both her and Naruto went down to the cafeteria. As they got food, Ayumi said, "I can't wait to learn this new jutsu! I wonder what it is…" "Ero-sennin said it's as powerful as Chidori!" "Really?" Ayumi questioned as they sat down. They ate quickly, talking about the possibilities. "It's a wind jutsu…so it's gotta be something good…" They went to the room to find Jiraiya wasn't there. Ayumi sighed, saying, "We'd better go get him before he gets into trouble…" 

They walked around the town, and found him with woman, drunk, and had used ALL of Naruto's money! Naruto started hitting him, and Ayumi massaged her temples, saying, "He's like an overgrown Naruto…only worse!" That's when two men came in, and Naruto accidentally stained one guys suit. When the guy ran at Jiraiya angrily, he showed Ayumi and Naruto the move he was going to teach them. "Rasengan!" he slammed it into the guy, and he flew back into a stand. After paying for it, he bought a bunch of balloons. He took them to the forest, and said, "Okay, training might as well start now…" "Really? Great! So how do we start?" 

Jiraiya smiled at Ayumi's impatience, and said, "You need to pop this water balloon with your chakra. Like this." He held the water balloon, and it started moving in many directions before popping. Ayumi looked at the water balloon he'd handed her, and she started rotating the water. It only stretched, so she thought for a moment, remembering how he did it. 

She smiled, figuring it out, and focused hard, making the water balloons surface rough before it popped. "Whoa! That was fast!" "I'm a fast learner…" Ayumi said modestly. "Well…while Naruto does this one, I'll show you the next step." Ayumi followed him, and he showed her a rubber ball. "This step is about strength. Look closely." He held the rubber ball, and it popped. She looked at the one he handed her, and concentrated all of her chakra into her palm, spinning it as fast as she had before, maybe even faster. It popped after a few moments, and Jiraiya said, "Your good with controlling your chakra." 

"Tsunade-sensei taught me…she said she'd teach me medical jutsu next time…" "Well…you'll need it for the next step." He showed her a balloon, and held it, saying, "Do this." She looked at it, and gave him a confused look. "Let me show you exactly what I'm doing in my other hand." He formed Rasengan in the other hand, and her eyes widened. "So…all I have to do is learn to keep my chakra at its max but keep it from popping the balloon…" she looked at the balloon, and started concentrating, feeling the chakra spin in there at dangerous levels. The balloon moved slightly, but she was able to stop it. 

After a while, it didn't move at all. Jiraiya smiled, saying, "Now do it without the balloon." She dropped the balloon, and formed Rasengan in her hand. "Whoa! I did it!" Jiraiya's jaw dropped. It was IMPOSSIBLE!! She'd really mastered Rasengan so quickly! How in the world! Its not like she copied what he did before…that's when it struck him. She must have used the Ayaka Sharingan when he first used Rasengan, and studied how to do it before he started teaching her. THAT'S why she learned so fast! "Well…I need to help Naruto…what are you going to do in the meantime?" Ayumi thought for a moment before saying, "I'll go look ahead for Tsunade-sensei. You guys better catch up, though! And I don't want to hear that you took so long because of 'research'!" 

"Fine…" she smiled, and went back to where Naruto was still training. "Naruto-kun! I'm going ahead to look for Tsunade-sensei!" "Do you have to?" "Sorry, but you'll catch up soon!" she gave him a goodbye kiss. "Okay! Okay! Let's not get all mooshy! Don't you need to go, Ayumi?" Naruto glared at Jiraiya as Ayumi nodded. "See you later, Naruto-kun!" she left in a flash, and, after a moment of silence, Jiraiya said, "You must be the luckiest idiot in the WORLD to get a girl like THAT!" "I'm not an idiot!" 

Ayumi got all of her stuff, and tenderly lifted Hara into her backpack before setting off. She went to the next town, and looked around all of the gambling areas. When she was about to call it a day, she heard Tsunade's familiar voice. "Tsunade-sensei!" Tsunade's head snapped into Ayumi's direction. "Ayumi?" Ayumi ran to her, smiling. "Tsunade-sensei! I've been looking all over for you!" "Why? I said I'd be gone for a while…" "We need you back in Konoha…its about the Third Hokage…" Ayumi felt the hot tears burn her eyes, and Tsunade sighed, saying, "Shizune, we're heading back to the hotel." 

Shizune appeared next to Tsunade, holding Tonton. "Hello, Ayumi-chan! I haven't seen you in a while!" "Its nice to see you, too, Shizune-chan." With the greetings done, they went to the hotel, and Ayumi had to explain everything, even though some things brought tears to her eyes. "Wait…if you fought Itachi and Kisame, why are you uninjured?" Ayumi smiled sheepishly, saying, "I healed a while ago. I'm fine now!" Tsunade sighed, saying, "Anyway…I'll be going out gambling the whole week, so you can't come." "Well…what am I supposed to do?!" "I'll leave you some medical scrolls to train with. It should last." "Okay…" Ayumi said, pouting. 

For three weeks, Ayumi trained as hard as she could, and even found a way to supercharge the Rasengan. One day, she went back to the room early to rest, and only slept for three hours before Tsunade shook her awake gently. "Tsunade-sensei…what is it?" "We're leaving." "What? Why?" Ayumi was awake, and she shook Hara awake. "Lets go sightseeing before leaving." Shizune suggested. "Fine…" Tsunade said, and Ayumi put Hara in her backpack with all of her stuff before following Tsunade. They were in a maze around a large castle, and Ayumi smiled, saying, "I always thought castles were cool…" 

That's when a strange rumbling reached her ears, and shook her to her very core. "What the-" The next moment, a giant snake smashed the castle down, and Ayumi's widened when she saw Orochimaru and Kabuto riding it. She stepped back, hiding a bit behind Tsunade, as the snake disappeared and they landed in front of them. "Hello, old friend." Ayumi shivered whenever she heard that snake's voice, and she hid a bit more. "What do you want here, Orochimaru?" Ayumi wished she had Tsunade's bravery, but…when it came to these two, the only one who gave her courage was…Naruto…"I didn't expect the little Uchiha to be with you…" 

Ayumi glared hostilely, remembering what he did…to the Third Hokage. "Well…she holds a grudge." She felt a sharp response wedge itself in her throat, and she wished she had the courage to say it. She confined herself to hostile glares, though she wished her fist would make contact with his face. "What have you gotten yourself into, Orochimaru?" Ayumi looked up at Tsunade questioningly. "Nothing…just killing the Third Hokage." That still seemed to hurt Tsunade, and Ayumi felt tears prick her eyes. "As you can see, Tsunade, you're the only one who can heal his arms." Ayumi glared at Kabuto, and Hara started growling in her backpack. 

"What will you do if I heal your arms?" "You know I'm not one to lie, so I'll tell you the truth. Besides obtaining everything I desire…" He looked pointedly at Ayumi, and Hara's head appeared over her shoulder, snarling warningly. "I'm going to destroy Konoha." Ayumi's eyes widened as she said, "You can't be serious! You can't destroy Konoha!" Shizune was angry, and attacked Kabuto. Tsunade called her to stop, though, and she jumped away from her stalemate. "Orochimaru, you know the kind of girl I am…" she punched the wall behind her, and it shattered like glass. "So you should leave now before I make you." Ayumi felt admiration fill her heart, though Kabuto tried to persuade Tsunade. 

When Tsunade was about to attack, Orochimaru said, "I'll bring back your little brother and lover." Tsunade stopped, and looked at the ground. "Tsunade-sensei, he's lying! You can't bring back the dead…" "Ayumi, I have to try…" "But he just wants you to do help him, and then use another persons life to bring them back! Can you live with that?" "What do you know about losing people precious to you?!" Even as the words passed her lips, Tsunade knew she'd made a grave mistake. Her words had been like kunai piercing Ayumi's heart, and she said, "And I thought you understood…" Ayumi felt the tears almost fall, and she whispered, "I knew I was just a burden…" 

She disappeared in a flash, and Tsunade sighed, a hand to her head. "I'm surprised you forgot, Tsunade. Her name always tells people what she's gone through." "I don't need to be lectured to, Orochimaru!" That's when she noticed Kabuto was about to leave. "Don't you hurt her!" She warned, fists clenched. "She doesn't need anymore grief…" Ayumi ran into the forest, and hid in a tree trunk, crying her heart out. She stopped only when she heard footsteps, and masked her chakra when she realized it was Orochimaru and Kabuto. "Where could that little girl go? She can't have gone far…" "We'll see her again…she'll go back to Tsunade, and Tsunade will be meeting us again anyway." 

With that, they left, and, once she felt it was safe, she wiped away all of her tears and ran to the hotel. Tsunade was at the table, head in her hands, when Ayumi ran in. "Ayumi!" Ayumi said, "You said you'd do it…didn't you?" Tsunade seemed…guilty. "You did! He'll destroy Konoha if you do! You can't just let him!" "Konoha is no longer my concern!" That took Ayumi's breath away as she stuttered, "You can't mean it…it's your home…" "Not anymore." "But I won't let you HELP him destroy MY home!" "We're dropping the subject! NOW!" Ayumi bit her tongue. "We're going to drink. Come on." She ended up dragging them away, and got drunk. 

Ayumi was too depressed to try and stop her when Jiraiya and Naruto walked in. "Naruto-kun!" she stood up, greeting him with a kiss. "This is the lucky guy?" Ayumi nodded to Tsunade as she sat down next to Naruto. "He doesn't look like much…" Naruto was insulted, but Ayumi put a hand on his shoulder, smiling sweetly. "Don't put it against her. She's drunk." Naruto mumbled something incoherently before leaning back in his seat, draping his arm on her shoulders. Jiraiya told her about the position of Hokage, and Tsunade rudely declined. "What fool wants to waste their life for others…" 

Naruto got mad, yelling, "Because it's what's right! I won't have you insulting any of the great Hokage's!" It soon escalated, and they went outside to fight. "Naruto-kun…be careful…" "I will be, Ayumi-chan." When Tsunade so quickly beat him, she said, "I bet you couldn't learn to use Rasengan by the end of the week!" "I'll take that bet! If I win, I get that necklace. If you win, we'll find someone else to be Hokage." Tsunade accepted, and Ayumi sighed. Tsunade ended up dragging her away, and she was trained to the bone. At the end of the week, she was given the day to rest, and she welcomed it. 

She was sleeping on the couch when Naruto, Shizune, and a weakened Jiraiya came in. Naruto shook her awake, asking, "Where's Tsunade?" "I don't know…why?" "She went to meet Orochimaru…" Jiraiya concluded. "No!" Ayumi was on her feet, and said, "I need to help her!" They all ran as fast as they could to where the castle once stood, and saw that more of it had been destroyed, and Tsunade's jacket was on the ground. They ran into the field to see Tsunade fighting both Orochimaru and Kabuto. Ayumi threw a kunai at Kabuto, switching his attention from Tsunade to her. 

"You teme! I should show you what happens when you attack my sensei!" she punched the ground as hard as she could, and it shattered, splinters as large as trees racing up to meet him. Kabuto dodged, and Ayumi ran up, punching him in the stomach. He flew back into a rock, and Ayumi looked at Tsunade, noticing Orochimaru wasn't fighting with her anymore. That's when she felt a presence behind her, and she whirled around, fist raised, but he kicked her in the stomach. She flew into a rock, and she gritted her teeth in pain, but her eyes snapped open when she heard Naruto attack him. "Don't do it, Naruto-kun!" 

Luckily, Jiraiya fought him instead, and Tsunade didn't move, covered in her own blood, and Ayumi stood. She saw Naruto start fighting Kabuto, and she ran over, stabbing a kunai into his arm. Kabuto winced in pain before cutting her arm deeply with his knife. She jumped back, trying to hide the fact that the wound was healing itself already, but Kabuto had keen eyes. He stared in awe at first, but she snapped him out of it when she threw a few kunai. He dodged, and beat Naruto down. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!" Ayumi kicked him away, and saw Naruto struggling to rise. "Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded, running at Kabuto, hitting him with a real Rasengan. 

"Naruto-kun…you did it…" Kabuto flew into a rock, and Naruto smiled sheepishly, saying, "I did good, didn't I-" At that moment, he fell backwards…dieng…"NARUTO-KUN!!!" She ran to his side, and said, tears filling her eyes, "Don't leave me, Naruto-kun! Hang on!" She opened his jacket, and then his shirt. 

She tried to heal his heart, she really did, but it wasn't working. "Naruto-kun…I'm trying, just stay with me…" "Ayumi-chan…I'm sorry…" "Don't leave me, Naruto-kun! I can't live without you…" "I love you, Ayumi-chan…" "NARUTO-KUN!!!" his eyes closed, and, though Tsunade started healing, Ayumi's tears didn't stop. "Naruto-kun…I love you, too…I'll never love anyone else…" she kissed his still lips, and a tear landed on his cheek. That's when she saw Orochimaru about to stab him with a sword. 

"NO!!!" 

"Ayumi, don't!" 

Tsunade's warning came too late, for the sword stabbed through Ayumi's chest. Naruto woke up at that moment, and Orochimaru pulled the sword out, making her fall back onto his lap. "AYUMI-CHAN!!!" "Naruto-kun…you're okay…" she smiled weakly. "I'm glad…" "Ayumi-chan, you're going to be fine! Just stay with me! Don't leave…" "I'm sorry…" "Ayumi-chan!" she put a hand on his cheek, and gave him one last kiss before her mind darkened. Her body lay limp in his hands, and he stared in shock at her blood on his hands. 

"Ayumi-chan…" he glared at Orochimaru with demon-red eyes, saying, "You couldn't just leave her alone! She didn't deserve this! She deserved so much better…" he looked down at her pained face. "All she wanted was love…and once she was able to give it, you killed her!" He stood up, putting her down gently. Jiraiya could feel his pain, and Naruto said, red chakra swirling around him, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!"


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Ayumi felt her heart beating in her chest, and didn't feel blood leaking out of it. 'I'm…alive…' she opened her heavy eyelids to see the pure blue sky, spotted with white cotton clouds. She sat up, feeling light-headed, and saw Naruto, demonic, fighting Orochimaru. "Naruto-kun…" when he heard her voice, he froze. He never though he'd hear it again. "Ayumi-chan…" She stood, slowly, and Naruto's demonic power ebbed away. "Your…alive…" She could see the relief and joy in his eyes, and it warmed her heart. 

Before he could run over and embrace her, Orochimaru cut him in the back. Ayumi's eyes widened, and she clenched her fists. She started forming a powerful Rasengan under her clenched fingers, and Orochimaru got closer. "You want to see my power? Well, here it is!" she opened her fingers, showing a Rasengan that was glowing so brightly that it almost looked like Chidori. "RASENGAN!!!" She slammed it into his chest, making him fly away. The moment the Rasengan made contact, she'd made the maximum amount of chakra smack into him, and then the Rasengan drilled into him. 

Kabuto's eyes widened as the Rasengan dissipated, and she ran to Naruto's side. She healed the cut, saying, "Naruto-kun! Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" "…I'll be fine…as long as you're here…" she smiled, saying, "Then you'll always be fine." She helped him up, when she felt a blade at her throat. "You're coming with us." Kabuto's familiar voice said. Ayumi saw Naruto's eyes flash red, but she said, "Don't do it, Naruto-kun…he's not worth it…" Tsunade was mad, and so was Jiraiya. "Hey, Kabuto…" Ayumi smirked. "Have you ever felt what its like to be burned by hell's fire?" He didn't like that tone. She did some hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" 

She the fire started building around her, burning him, and she started spinning. He jumped back, but the tornado went after him. When it had effectively burned his right arm, the fire dissipated, and she held two kunai, saying, "Lets see you fight me now." That's when a sword nearly impaled her again, but the Ayaka Sharingan activated, and she dodged. "You know you can't beat us all by yourself." She cracked her knuckles, and punched a tree over. "I'll manage." The commas started spinning, and her chakra started swirling around her. "I'll finish you off now." She ran at him, fist pumped to the max with chakra, and she punched him in the face. 

Her fist was stuck in a sticky substance as he turned into a strange clone. "What the HELL?!" she couldn't pull her wrist out of the goop, and it started spreading up her arm. Naruto ran over, trying to pry it off, but it wouldn't yield to the kunai. "What IS this crap?" she questioned, until she felt drained. "Naruto-kun…it's…draining my…chakra…" "Ayumi-chan! Don't pass out! I'll get it off!" Naruto was frantic as he tried to rip the goop off, but Ayumi was starting to lose consciousness.  
"Ayumi-chan!" she fell to her knees, feeling too weak to trust her legs, and saw the goop on the floor move towards her. "What the…?" 

She tried to move away, but the goop grabbed her leg. She fell backwards, though Naruto caught her. "Naruto-kun…I can't…hold on…much longer…" Naruto looked pleadingly at Tsunade, who ran over. She used her super strength to rip it off her arm, but she notice small holes in Ayumi's arm where the goop had been. "It drills small holes and drains your chakra through them…" Tsunade ripped the goop off Ayumi's leg, but Ayumi still wasn't strong enough to move. Naruto lifted her up bridal style, saying, "I'll take care of her." Ayumi rested her head against his chest, and started drifting off to the beating of his heart…


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Ayumi woke up in the hospital, and saw Tsunade walk in with Naruto and Sakura. "Hey guys…what's up?" "Ayumi-chan!" Naruto ran to her side, hugging her tight. "Naruto-kun…I can't…breathe…" He released her, smiling sheepishly. "So…how's Sasuke?" "See for yourself?" Tsunade answered, moving the curtain beside Ayumi's bed, showing Sasuke in his own. "Nii-san…" Tsunade healed his mind, and he finally woke up. "Nii-san! You're okay!" Ayumi almost sprang out of bed, but Tsunade held her back, saying, "Calm down! You haven't regained all of your chakra…" "At LEAST let me get up!" 

Tsunade released her as way of answer, and Ayumi got up. She went over to her nii-san, and hugged him tight. "Are you okay? I've been so worried…" "I'm fine…" She released him, feeling that something was wrong, and that's when Sakura hugged him, crying. Naruto hugged Ayumi from behind, smiling. "What's wrong, Ayumi-chan?" "I'm…not sure yet…" She smiled weakly at Naruto over her shoulder. "But I'm sure its nothing." 'Or it could be everything…' she ended in her mind, that's when Tsunade said, "Ayumi, you need to sleep. Come on." Ayumi sighed, but obeyed Tsunade's orders. 

She got into the bed, and noticed Naruto take a seat in between her and Sasuke's beds. She smiled as she drifted into sleep…and was awoken by the sudden silence. She noticed no one was in the room and, feeling refreshed, got up and went to look for them. Hara found them on the roof, and Ayumi's heart almost stopped when she saw Sasuke and Naruto running at each other, one using Chidori and the other using Rasengan. 

"SASUKE-NII-SAN!!! NARUTO-KUN!!!" 

They couldn't stop, and Ayumi felt tears burn her eyes, blurring her vision. 'I'd rather die than lose one of them…' she saw Sakura, crying, on the floor, and ran forward. "Ayumi-chan! Move!" "Move, nii-chan!" she planted herself in between them, almost opening her arms to the release the attacks were offering her, when a shadow appeared, throwing both boys into water tanks. "Ayumi…" she looked up to see Kakashi, and she let the tears flow as she said, "They…they were…going to…kill each other…" "I know…I know…" 

She hugged him tight, crying. She noticed Sasuke leave, and Kakashi said, "I'll go talk with him…" Ayumi nodded, and went over to Naruto. "Naruto-kun…" he looked up, and the guilt was obvious.  
"Ayumi-chan…I'm sorry…" "Why'd you do it?" Naruto looked at the ground, saying, "Sasuke did Chidori first…" "Why were you two fighting?!" "Sasuke just challenged me…" Ayumi kneeled down next to him, saying, "I don't want you two to fight…you two are the most precious people to me…I don't want to lose either of you…" Naruto nodded, saying, "I promise I won't fight him again…not like this…" Ayumi smiled, saying, "That's all I wanted to hear…" 

She hugged him tight, and that's when Tsunade's strict voice asked, "Ayumi, why aren't you in bed?" Ayumi turned to her sensei, and said, "But…I feel fine…" Tsunade sighed, saying, "I want to be sure, though." After a few tests, Ayumi was finally released the next day, and was eating Ramen at Ichiraku's with Naruto when Shikamaru came, saying, "I need you two to come with me." Ayumi gave him a questioning look as she quickly finished her Ramen, and both her and Naruto followed him to the gate. 

"Okay…this is a retrieval mission. Sasuke Uchiha was captured by Sound shinobi and is being taken to the Sound village. We have to get him back before they cross the border." He turned to Ayumi, saying, "Since you have the Ayaka Sharingan, you can see what will happen. If you see any danger, hide in the trees. If you can't help, then keep going and shadow them until you can get Sasuke." She nodded, and he explained his strategy to the others. Ayumi took up the rear as they set off, though she was frantic to find her nii-san. 'That snake-teme! I'll kill him if he hurts Sasuke-nii-san!' 

They were catching up, Hara kept getting agitated in Ayumi's backpack, and that's when a big fat shinobi appeared. Ayumi obviously knew, and jumped into the trees. She saw him trap the others in a chakra-eating orb. She went to the other side, and stabbed a kunai in so deep that it went all the way through, and jumped back into the trees. She ran ahead, masking her chakra, and saw three shinobi. One looked sickly, another had six arms, and the other was a foul-mouthed kunoichi. She was good at hiding, and Hara knew when to stay quiet. But, just in case, she kept the Ayaka Sharingan activated. 

She saw a strange container, and felt an evil chakra emanating from it. 'Nii-san?' that's when the others came, and they started moving again. Everyone got into a one-on-one fight except Ayumi and Naruto. Sasuke came out of the container, but he ran away, and Naruto followed close behind. Ayumi followed, but at a slower pace, as thought plagued her mind. 'Why is he running? Doesn't he want to come back? Doesn't he want to stay with me? Doesn't he care?' she made it to the Valley of the End as Naruto's and Sasuke's fight had reached its climax. "SASUKE-NII-SAN!!! NARUTO-KUN!!!" that's when Rasengan and Chidori clashed. 

Naruto was unconscious, and it looked like Sasuke was going to finish him off. "Nii-san!" she jumped down in-between them, protecting Naruto. "Why are you protecting him?" "Why are you trying to kill him?" "It's the only way to get the Mangekyou Sharingan…" Ayumi's eyes widened. "I won't let you kill him! You'll have to kill me first!" "Nii-chan, move." "I won't!" "I don't want to fight you…" "And I don't want anyone else to die, so I guess we're even!" That's when a snake's voice said, "A bit protective, aren't we?" A chill raced down her spine as she whispered, "Orochimaru…" 

Orochimaru appeared behind Sasuke, saying, "I don't think you're going to change his mind." She glared hostilely, the commas of the Ayaka Sharingan spinning dangerously. Orochimaru smirked, saying, "Bring her back alive, Sasuke. I'll be waiting." With that, he disappeared, and Ayumi glared at Sasuke, asking, "Is this really what you want?" "Nii-chan…" "I'm not going without a fight, and you know it!" He sighed, saying, "Then we might as well start." He jumped back, doing some hand signs before saying, "Fire Release: Great Fireball jutsu!" Ayumi got Naruto and dodged the attack easily. After putting Naruto in a safe hiding spot, she jumped at Sasuke, punching him in the stomach. 

He flew back, and she whispered, "I'm sorry…" As Sasuke stood, she said, "Don't make me kill you, nii-san." He ran at her with a kunai, and she took out her own, parrying it. "Nii-san, you don't have to do this! You don't have to leave…" "Then how else will I get stronger? You don't understand! You were born with power!" "I WAS BORN WITH A CURSE!!!" She kicked him away. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE BORN WITH THESE EYES!!! IT'S LIKE HELL ON EARTH!!" 

He stood up, feeling weak, and asked, "Are you going to finish me off?" Her hand was shaking, and she raised the kunai. She threw it, but it thudded into the rock right next to his head. "You know I'm not heartless. I'm not going to turn into Itachi, but I'm not so sure about you…" she turned her back on him, though it felt like she was stabbing herself in the heart, and got Naruto. Tears started flowing down her cheeks as she held Naruto in her arms. "He'll get you, nii-chan. You know that." "He's not getting these eyes. It may be a curse, but it's MINE to bear…I'm sorry…that I couldn't help you get stronger…" When she turned around, he was gone. "No!" 

She was about to follow him when Kakashi appeared, lifting Naruto. "I need to stop him!" Kakashi held her back, saying, "There's nothing you can do…I'm sorry…" Ayumi cried hard, saying, "I feel…like it's my fault…" Kakashi felt bad for her, and brought both of them back to Konoha. Ayumi wasn't wounded, but she stayed with Naruto night and day until he woke up. When he did, he noticed her eyes were glazed over with grief, and weren't nearly as bright when she smiled, hugging him. "Ayumi-chan…are you okay…" "…Yeah…" He wasn't so sure about that, and said, "You couldn't bring him back…" 

She tensed, before relaxing in his arms, saying, her voice choked by sobs, "Yeah…I tried…I really tried! But…he wanted to leave me all by myself…" "You're never by yourself! I'm here for you, and so is Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei! Not to mention everyone else in the village! Especially Tsunade! You should have seen her when she got here with you that first time. She did all of that hard work to make sure you would come out of it fine…there are so many people here that care for you…" he kissed her forehead. "But I care the most…" She smiled, kissing him, when the door opened. 

They separated when Ayumi saw Sakura at the door. "Tsunade told me you two liked each other, but I didn't believe her…" Sakura smiled, giving Naruto some Ramen, and said, "You look better, Naruto." Naruto smiled, saying, "Well, I feel better!" Sakura looked at Ayumi, thinking, 'If Sasuke leaving is hurting me this much, imagine how much it must be killing her on the inside…' Ayumi smiled, saying, "Well, I guess I'll start my medic training with Tsunade again. She'll be mad if I take any longer…" Sakura went with her, and Ayumi persuaded Tsunade to teach Sakura, too. 

Ayumi was obviously ahead of Sakura, but Tsunade started teaching both of them at the same time…though it was only an excuse to get away from the paperwork…"You two are doing good. Maybe you'll be as good as me some day…" Ayumi smiled, though Tsunade knew she must not have felt much like it. She let Ayumi leave early, and Kakashi tried to cheer her up with her favorite dinner. Ayumi hardly ate before taking a hot shower. "Why am I cursed? If I didn't have these eyes, none of this would have happened!" she punched the wall, denting it. "If I didn't have these eyes, Sasuke would still be here, and so would mom…" she finished taking her shower, not knowing that Kakashi had heard the whole thing. 

She went to her room, locking herself in, and sat on her bed, hugging her legs to her chest, her chin on her knees. "Nii-san…I told you revenge would ruin you…you just didn't listen…but why am I the one that suffers? …My heart can't take much more of this…" Hara, whimpering, licked her fingers. Ayumi absentmindedly scratched Hara's ears, but she didn't smile, like she usually did. "I miss him, Hara…" Hara whimpered, ears lowered and tail tucked between her legs as she found her way onto Ayumi's lap. Ayumi smiled weakly, petting Hara's head. "I'll bring him back…no matter what…" 'Because revenge turns us into what we hate the most…' 

That's when Kakashi expertly picked the lock on her door and came in. "Ayumi…I know your hurt, but you need to learn to move on…" Ayumi gave him a sad, innocent look, and he sighed, sitting next to her on the bed. "I know you feel like you've lost everything…but you haven't…this whole village is behind you…" He smiled, "And every single one of them can count on you as much as you can count on them." "I don't see why…" Kakashi smiled under his mask. "You protect them with your life, and they expect nothing less, and they will do the same in return." Ayumi smiled weakly as she said, "Then I'll protect this whole village with my life." "Like a guardian angel."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

A couple months later, Ayumi was finally over her depression, and Tsunade felt safe about putting her on a mission. "This is a B-ranked mission, so be careful! You're supposed to escort the prince of Grass Country to his home safe and sound, along with his father and all of their belongings." Ayumi sighed, saying, "Okay…did they come here, or do we have to meet up with them?" "They're here." That's when an older man came in, with light brown hair and light gold eyes. He was older than Kakashi, and considerably heavier. His son, on the other hand, was probably a year or so older than Ayumi, with darker brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was cute, to say the least, or that's how Sakura put it. 

Ayumi could care less, but he seemed more interested in her than in Sakura, which made Naruto jealous. "It's midsummer in Grass Country, so wear extra cool clothes." Ayumi nodded, turning to Naruto. "We'll be meeting at the gate. See you soon, Naruto-kun!" she was gone in a flash, and Naruto noticed how the prince looked at her when she wasn't looking. Kakashi held back a jealous Naruto, saying, "We'll be ready in a couple of hours. We'll be meeting at the front gate at that time." Ayumi changed into a light blue belly shirt with spaghetti straps, and jean shorts. She put her hair in a low ponytail, flipping it over her curse mark so it wouldn't show, and pulled her sandals on before putting all of her weapons on. 

She put her blades on her belt, and turned to Hara, saying, "You should stay home this time. I'll be fine." Ayumi smiled at the puppy-dog eyes she got before getting Hara plenty to eat. "You ready, Ayumi?" Kakashi questioned as he came out of his own room. He froze for a moment before saying, "I see why that prince stares at you." "Pervert." Ayumi muttered, shouldering her backpack. She packed some food and other survival necessities before saying, "I'm ready to go, Kakashi!" "Then lets go." They headed for the gate to see the prince and his father there with a bunch of bodyguards and three carriages full of things. 

Ayumi's eye twitched lightly as she said, "No one needs this many things…" no one answered her, so she just sighed, sitting on a tree trunk. After noticing the prince had been staring at her the whole time, she was about to beat some sense into him when Naruto and Sakura came. "Hi, Naruto-kun!" "Ayumi-chan!" they kissed, obviously upsetting the prince, though Naruto wore a triumphant grin as Kakashi said, "Okay, we're heading out!" As they walked, Ayumi heard the prince's name. Nakashima. And his fathers name is Akira. Naruto stayed near her, glaring at Nakashima when he looked at Ayumi, and Ayumi smiled at Naruto's protective nature. 

Kakashi often had to separate them so they could protect the carriages better. Kakashi had just split them up again, and the road was nearing a piece of the road where there was a rocky hill on one side…on her side of the carriages. She was looking at it warily, and the Ayaka Sharingan flashed before a band of shinobi tried to rush them, running down the hill. She pulled on her gloves quickly before punching the hillside as hard as she could, sending rock shooting at the shinobi. Some survived, and Ayumi ran to meet the small number, only about three. 

She punched one, crushing him into the ground, and kicked another, sending them flying over the hill. The third shook at her strength, and she kicked him hard into the air, and jumped up after him, punching him even harder down to earth. "Ayumi-chan! You did it!" she smiled, saying, "It was easy." She noticed Nakashima was now staring at her with awe and respect, though she just shook it off. She didn't notice the shinobi that were actually alive crawl away to report to their leader…"So, you guys are safe for a little while longer. We'd better keep moving." Everyone nodded, following Kakashi's order as the carriages began to move again. 

Little did they know that the shinobi would attack again, but this time to take someone that their young leader had taken an…interest in…


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

They had been walking for a few hours, and were going through a prairie with tall grass that brushed against Ayumi's knees. She smiled, seeing all of the small animals that were hidden in the grass, and thought she saw a shadow behind a rock a few yards away from the road on her left, with the carriage on her right. She stared at the rock warily, feeling that bad feeling in her gut, and Naruto came up next to her. "Hey, Ayumi-chan! Everything alright?" "I guess…but stay on guard…" Naruto gave her a questioning look. "Tell Kakashi to be ready…and Sakura-chan, too." "Ayumi-chan, are you sure?" Ayumi nodded, kissing him lightly on the cheek before he left. 

After a few more minutes of walking, ten kunai raced towards her. She took out her blades, blocking them, and did some hand signs, saying, "Wind Release: Wind Blade jutsu!" she slashed her blades at the air, but the chakra and wind flew from her blades, smacking into a few shinobi. 'That should catch Kakashi's attention…' She ran forward, lashing out at the closest shinobi, but she was immediately outnumbered. They surrounded her, and she did some hand signs, saying, "Fire Release: Phoenix Tornado jutsu!" she started spinning, and the shinobi jump back from the blue/white flames. 

The tornado quickly grew bigger, swallowing many of the shinobi, but the flames eventually dissipated. "Not so easy, now is it?" she mocked the still conscious shinobi. That's when she felt three high-leveled chakra's come at her from behind, and she whirled around, jumping back. "Well, well…a little girl…" the leader mocked, and Ayumi glared coldly at him. He was in his twenties, with dark gold hair and dark blue, almost black, eyes. One of the others was a younger kunoichi, with icy blue hair and pitch black eyes. The last shinobi was larger than the other two, with black hair and mocking laughter in his light brown eyes. 

'Like Kisame's eyes…' she thought as she slid into a fighting stance. 'I have to hold them off until the others get here…' "If you're expecting your friends to come save you, you're wrong. They're…busy at the moment." Ayumi cast a glance at the carriages and saw them fighting frantically. "Oh God…" she glared at them, asking, "What do you want here?" "We came here to…get something…" "Vague much?" she mocked, smirking slightly at the leader's annoyed expression. She smirked, standing up as she said, "I'd say what you're here for now…" she punched the ground, shattering the earth around her. "Before I lose my patience." 

The Ayaka Sharingan flashed as the kunoichi said, "She's not as strong as I heard. They said she shattered a whole hillside with one punch." Ayumi felt her anger boil up in her as she said, "If you wanted to see my true strength…" she formed a powerful Rasengan in her hands. "You should have just asked!" 

She ran at them so fast they almost didn't see her, and she slammed each Rasengan into a different stomach as she kicked the third person away with her most powerful kick. She jumped back, having inflicted so much damage already, and stood, breathing heavily as the Rasengan dissipated in her palms. The shinobi poofed, and she cursed audibly when someone held her arms, pinned, behind her back, and held a kunai to her throat. "You're powerful…but not smart…" 'I should have brought Hara…' she scolded herself. "Ayumi-chan!" Her eyes widened. "Naruto-kun!" she gave him a pleading look, and he said, "Let her go!" "Why should I?" 

Naruto's eyes flashed demonic red, and Ayumi gave him a look saying 'don't lose yourself to protect me…I'll be fine…' "What are you going to do with her?" Naruto questioned, a very slight shaking in his voice. He wanted to know if she'd still live. If there was a chance he could save her. "We're taking her to our boss…he's got something…special planned for this little kunoichi." There was a cry from Akira, and the leader said, "And he wanted to see the kings final moments…" the kunoichi came back with the king, saying, "I don't see why he's so interested in her. She's probably three, four years younger than him!" Naruto's eyes widened, and he looked behind him to have Sakura and Kakashi appear there. 

Kakashi glared with his uncovered eye, his headband still covering his Sharingan eye. "You're not taking her somewhere to get betrothed or something, because we're going to stop you." What Kakashi said almost stopped Ayumi's heart. 'Betrothed…like HELL I will!' She started to struggle, but it was all in vain. "She's a stubborn one…rebellious, too…" "You should have seen me with my father!" She tried to kick him, but he dodged, pressing the kunai against the vein in her throat. She breathed deeply, trying to calm her racing heart, and the leader said, "We have what we want, so we'll be off." 

Ayumi inconspicuously cut her pointer finger all the way down, willing her blood to drip, leaving a trail as they carried her away with Akira. She was sure Kakashi would notice, or one of his dogs. "It looks like the little princess is finally on her way to Grass Country." She glared at him, cursing him in her head with all of the curse words she knew. "A little temperamental, aren't we?" "A little moronic, aren't we?" she mocked, her eyes icy. He seemed ready to hit her, and she was ready. "Hit me. I dare you. If you do, you'll have to walk around with my foot stuck up your ass!" He gave her a wary look, but didn't hit her. 

They soon reached a large castle with one side overlooking the sea, and the other surrounded by a large city. 'Akira's palace? Why are we here?' They went in through an entrance on the side facing the sea, and Ayumi would have cherished the salty smell, but she had bigger worries. She noticed the cut on her finger hadn't even started healing yet…just like she wanted. She could will her body to heal or not…how many times she could have used this trick! She let it drip until they led both her and Akira into the throne room. She clenched her fists, willing the cut to heal faster than usual, when she noticed Akira's shock. 

Sitting on the throne was a young man only three or so years older than Ayumi, with blond hair like Naruto, and brown eyes. "It looks like you finally brought them. Took you long enough!" Ayumi even had to admit that he was handsome, but she still preferred Naruto. There was no one else in the WORLD like Naruto…no one with the same drive, no one with the same caring blue eyes…no one who cared so much…"What are you doing, Kaito? Why are you kidnapping me?" Ayumi agreed with Akira's questions, though she didn't show it. "You executed my father, and you don't think I have a reason?" Ayumi gave Akira a questioning look, but he seemed too ashamed to meet it. 

"So I'll take control of this country, like my family should have, and execute you like you did my father." Ayumi felt sick at the thought, and said, "Revenge is bitter-sweet. It won't bring your father back, and it most certainly won't make you feel better." The leader gripped her wrists tighter, but she just gritted her teeth in pain, not making a sound. "This is the kunoichi I've heard so much about? The one that can shatter a hillside with one punch?" the leader nodded, and Ayumi, with the natural Uchiha pride, held herself up. She held his gaze as he inspected her, and she wished she had the use of her hands, so she could get away. "Why do you care who I am, anyway?" "Because I've never heard of anyone who could do that…" "Except Tsunade." 

He looked at her closely, asking, "What's your name?" "Ayumi…" He stepped closer, and her gaze faltered for a moment. "Why am I here?" He smiled, caressing her cheek as he said, "Every king needs a queen." She ripped her hands free of the shinobi behind her and smacked his hand away. Before the shinobi could subdue her, Kaito said, "Taiko, its under control…" Ayumi tried to build up chakra as he said, "I hear that you have a little boyfriend…" "So? What does it matter to you?" Unfortunately, her voice shook very slightly, but he noticed. "If you really care about him, you'd do as I say." 

She glared at him warily, saying, "You don't know where he is…" "They'll find him, and you wouldn't want him to be hurt, now do you?" she glared at him icily, saying, "Don't you dare hurt Naruto." "I won't. Its either he lives…" he paused, making the feeling in her stomach worse. "Or he dies." She was about to punch him, but Taiko stabbed her in the arm with a strange device that drained her chakra. She gritted her teeth in pain as Kaito said, "Now you can't fight back." "They'll come get me. I know it. And when they do, you'll be sorry." He smirked, saying, "I doubt they'll make it in time." "In time for what?" she asked, though she dreaded the answer. 

"I heard you were smart. Think about it." Her eyes widened as she said, "No way in HELL am I going to go along with this!!!" Taiko grabbed her wrists, saying, "She's a wildcat, for sure! With the strength of a bear to match!" "And my foots gonna go up your ass if you don't LET ME GO!!!" This seemed to make Kaito like her even more, however, and it didn't really help her situation. "Take her to the guest room." He then turned to Ayumi. "And we'll see the execution of this fool before the ceremony." Ayumi glared at him as she was dragged away. 

"If you think it'll be that easy, then you're DEAD WRONG!!!" 

"We'll see." 'He'll regret this! Naruto-kun is coming to get me! But…what if Naruto-kun dies…?' she shuddered at the thought, thinking, 'No! He won't! I'll make sure he lives! And then this nightmare will end!'


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

With Naruto, after they took Ayumi and Akira. He was about to give chase, but Kakashi held him back. "Let me go! I've gotta save her!" "Naruto, calm down! You won't help her at all if you just run after her recklessly!" Naruto calmed down as Kakashi continued, "She left us a trail, anyway." That's when Naruto noticed the blood droplets leading after them. "She's smart, Naruto. She'll be fine." "But…what do they want with her?" Kakashi's eyes softened as he said, "I…don't know…but we'll think of a way to save her…I promise…" Naruto nodded, saying, "I'm just…worried…" Kakashi nodded, saying, "We all are. We just need to find a way to get her and Akira out." "Maybe we should see what they're planning, and then find the best time to sneak in." Sakura suggested. Naruto nodded, saying, "We need to follow her blood anyway." 

Kakashi nodded, summoning Pakkun, and they had to bring Nakashima with them as they raced towards the Grass Country. Pakkun stopped, saying, "They went inside, but it's too dangerous. There are far too many guards." Kakashi nodded as Pakkun vanished. "We'll try to communicate with her when it gets darker. Sakura, you'll keep watch while me and Naruto look for her, okay?" Sakura nodded, and Nakashima asked, "Why are you all willing to risk your lives for her?" Naruto turned to him, saying, "Because she's precious to us…and she'd to the exact same thing for us." With that, both him and Kakashi disappeared, looking for Ayumi. 

Naruto had split off from Kakashi, running in the shadows of the rooftop, when he saw an angelic face looking out of a window, with the same blue/white eyes and dark curls he loved. 'Ayumi-chan!' he jumped onto her windowsill, and her eyes widened slightly before filling with relief and joy. "Naruto-kun!" she whispered, opening the window. He jumped in, saying, "We're here to save you!" "But he's going to execute Akira!" Naruto gave her a wide-eyed look as she remembered when she was thrown into the room: 

Flashback: 

Taiko threw Ayumi on the bed like a sack of potatoes, and said, "You're staying here for a while, princess, until the execution. It'll be before the sun sets, and then it'll be your big moment." Ayumi glared at him, saying, "You have no idea who you're dealing with!" "Actually…we do, little Uchiha." Her eyes widened as she asked, "How did you know?" "One look at your eyes and your headband, and we pieced it together. Now that Kaito knows you have the Ayaka Sharingan, he'll never let you go." She glared at him, thinking, 'These eyes really are a curse…' 

End Flashback 

Ayumi gave Naruto a pleading look as she said, "Just save Akira. Don't worry about me." "I'm not leaving without you!" Ayumi could see Naruto's determination, and she said, "But he'll hunt you down…" "Who will?" Naruto asked, softening. "Kaito…the one that's behind all of this…he says if I don't do as he says, he'll hunt you down…and kill you." Naruto felt rage fill his blood at the very thought of someone influencing her by using her fragile glass heart. "Ayumi-chan…I'll tell Kakashi-sensei. We'll get you out in time. I promise!" "Naruto-kun..." She wanted to tell him, but she also didn't want to. 

"What is he planning to do with you?" Ayumi shied her eyes away, whispering, "He says he needs a queen…" Naruto's eyes widened as he said, "But…he can't…" Ayumi didn't answer, feeling his distress. "But I'll always love you, Naruto-kun." He was about to say something else when she kissed him innocently. That's when her eyes widened. "He's coming! Naruto-kun, you need to go!" Naruto nodded, saying, "We'll be back! I promise!" she nodded, and they kissed goodbye before he jumped out of the window. Right after she closed the window, Kaito opened the door, and Naruto watched through the window, hidden perfectly in the shadows. 

He saw Kaito wrap his arms around Ayumi's waist, nuzzling her neck, and Naruto's eyes glowed like two coals in the darkness. He relaxed when Ayumi pushed him away, walking to the bed. That's when Kaito held her against the wall by her wrists. Naruto felt his claws grow in, and his fangs grew in, too. 'How DARE he hurt Ayumi-chan? She doesn't deserve all this pain…' 'She doesn't deserve it. She deserves what we give her.' 'What do you mean WE?' 'Well…I like her too! She was cool when the mark started taking over…' 'Kyuubi…you're weird…'  
His keen hearing heard what they were saying. 

"Get OFF me, Kaito!" 

"Why can't you just forget that boyfriend of yours? He's never coming to get you…" 

"He's coming to get me! And then you'll be sorry! Especially when Kakashi gets a hold of you!" 

'It's true…Kakashi is super protective of Ayumi…he'll kill this smug teme if I don't do it first…' 

"You believe they'll save you…what if they value their own lives more than yours?" 

Naruto saw Ayumi's eyes widen innocently, and he thought, 'Don't listen to him, Ayumi-chan! Everyone in Konoha would risk their lives for you! Think, Ayumi-chan!' 

"You don't know them…and you don't know me!" 

"Your wrong on the last part…I do know you…" 

Naruto was ready to jump in to help her when Kakashi appeared beside him. "I see you've found her…" Kakashi whispered, looking in the window. "What in the world! That guy is dead!" Naruto only saw Kakashi show emotion when it came to Ayumi, whether it was kindness and sympathy, or anger and rage. They continued watching, and saw Taiko walk in, making Kaito release Ayumi. "The preparations for the execution are ready. And so are the…other preparations." Kaito nodded at Taiko's report, saying, "Then its time she got ready…" "I'm not getting ready for anything!" she responded defiantly. 

Kaito pretended to not have heard her as he continued talking to Taiko. Ayumi looked out the window with a sad, pleading look that went to both shinobi's hearts, until Taiko stabbed her in the arm with the device that sucks up chakra. Naruto saw the chakra swirl around brightly, and asked, "Is it safe for them to suck out that much chakra?" "I'm not sure…it usually depends on the shinobi." 'I wonder what that Kaito guy is planning to do with her afterwards…' 'OH MY GOD!!!' '…OH MY GOD!!! We need to stop him!' 'Why do YOU care so much?' 'I thought I answered that question already?' 'Hey! She's my girl!' 'Technically…she's OURS…' 'I hate your logic!' 'You hate logic in general…' 

Before Naruto could continue this internal dispute, he saw them drag Ayumi away, and Kakashi whispered, "Okay…we just need to find where the execution will be taking place and get them out before. Okay?" Naruto nodded, and they went to meet up with Sakura and Nakashima. Kakashi explained the situation while Naruto imagined many gruesome deaths for Kaito. "We need to save my father!" "And what happened to Ayumi?" Naruto asked, being a TAD temperamental…actually, he was pissed…"If he wants her, he can have her. Its more important to save my father…" 

Naruto's eyes turned red as he said, "I'm not leaving her here to suffer because you're selfish! When I go in there, I'm coming out with her!" Kakashi nodded, saying, "We're going to save both of them." He sighed, saying, "If it's at sunset, we need to go quickly. Me and Sakura will take out the guards, and Naruto will get Ayumi and Akira out." Naruto nodded, and looked at the sun, wanting to go save her already. Finally, it seemed that Kakashi was going to go, and Naruto jumped to his feet, anxious. They hid Nakashima before they ran quickly, but there weren't any guards. They were all out in the actual city. 

Kakashi saw the three shinobi, and whispered, "Sakura and I will hold them off. Naruto, you just go look for Ayumi." Naruto nodded, and ran where Kyuubi said Ayumi was when Kakashi and Sakura sprung a surprise attack. He followed Kyuubi's directions, and found he was at the door to a huge ballroom, with gallows in the center. He saw them put Akira on, and he hid in the shadows. He looked around for Ayumi, and his heart beat rapidly when he caught sight of her. She had been forced into a formfitting dress the same blue/white as her eyes, that was tight until her knees, where it flowed to the ground like water, with a slit on the side halfway up her shin. 

Naruto almost thought he saw her shuriken holster, but it would be impossible to hide it…her hair was down, brushing against the lower part of her shoulder blades. Naruto felt an impulse to go and comfort her when he saw the pain in the innocent white eyes he'd always loved…even when he'd first seen them. Her eyes flickered to him, and he smiled slightly as relief flooded her eyes. He saw the hole in her arm healing slowly, inconspicuously, and his eyes flashed red as he thought of them draining even more chakra out of her. Her eyes then flickered to Akira, and he saw her hand twitch very slightly towards something on her right leg. 

Naruto sighed silently, keeping his eyes on Kaito, when he went over to Ayumi. He took a seat that was next to her, and made her sit beside him before saying, "The execution is about to begin." Ayumi looked sympathetically at Akira, mouthing something that no one except Naruto noticed. A man put the noose around Akira's neck before moving to a handle. As he pulled the handle…


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Ayumi was on her feet in a moment, taking a kunai from her shuriken holster, and throwing it with perfected accuracy at the rope that would snap Akira's neck. It cut it easily, making Akira fall safely to the ground. She pulled the kunai back, throwing it at the man at the gallows. She snapped the ninja wire, jumping away from Kaito. 'Help me, Naruto-kun!' The Ayaka Sharingan blazed fiercely, and she saw the disbelief in Kaito's eyes. "I guess you don't know as much about me as you thought! The Ayaka Sharingan has a special reserve of chakra, one that can't be drained." She cracked her knuckles. "Which means I can snap your neck." 

She couldn't fight comfortably in what she was wearing, and both men could see that. But she was a stubborn kunoichi, and was willing to live with the handicap as long as she could punch his face in. She ran at him as fast as the dress would allow, when a kunai cut her cheek. She put a hand to the sharp, stinging cut, and glared at Kaito. "I'm not defenseless. I learned the way of the shinobi, just like you." Ayumi sighed, saying, "Well…it's a good thing I'm wearing my own clothes underneath this then." Naruto's eyes widened as he saw her fluidly remove the dress, showing her normal clothes underneath. 

She put her hair up before saying, "Now I can beat you up." She raised a fist, punching the ground in front of her. The floor shattered like glass, and, through the smoke and debris, she ran at him, fist raised. He, amazingly, caught her fist, twisting it, and said, "You could try harder." He was mocking her, and her temper flared, making the commas on the Ayaka Sharingan swirl dangerously. She kicked him in the side, making him fly into a wall. "Naruto-kun!" Naruto was at her side in a moment, looking at her with a worried expression. "He's pretty strong. Take Akira while I hold him off." 

Naruto got Akira, but came back to her side, saying, "I'll be back as soon as I can." She smiled. "I wouldn't expect anything less, Naru-kun." She gave him a swift kiss before he left, and planted herself firmly on the ground before Kaito rose. She glared at him, saying, "I won't let you live after all you've done." "And I won't let you leave here alive with that little weakling." Her eyes were on fire as she said, trying to suppress her rage, "Naruto is stronger than you'll EVER be!" She ran at him with almost unimaginable speed, faking a frontal attack, and appearing behind him, stabbing him in the back with a kunai. 

He kicked her away. She slammed into the wall, gritting her teeth in pain, but regained her balance fairly quickly. He held a kunai to her throat, and she didn't move. He caressed her cheek, his face close to hers as he said, "You should be with me…not a little weakling like him…I'll make sure you stay with me…" Ayumi tried to move back, but the wall was in the way. His lips were getting closer to her own, and she didn't dare let them touch. 

That's when a few Naruto clones pulled Kaito off, beating him up at the same time. Ayumi breathed deeply, a hand at her throat, as the real Naruto appeared at her side, making sure she wasn't hurt too bad. "I'm fine…" The worry didn't leave his eyes as he nodded slowly. She smiled softly, caressing his cheek slowly. "…I never want to be with anyone but you…" she whispered, her eyes bright and lively. He heard her words, smiling slightly, but her eyes widened with horror as she said, "Move!" But it was too late. A kunai hit him in the back, and he fell forward, unconscious…or worse… 

Her heart seemed to stop as she caught him, and she whispered, "He can't leave me! He needs to stay! He's all I have left…" She pulled out the kunai, and started using a medical jutsu. He didn't seem to be coming back, and it brought tears to her eyes. 'It must have been worse than I thought…' she felt the mark spread, marking her pale skin, but her anger was too much to control as she carefully lay Naruto down and turned to face Kaito. "You don't know what you've done…" "I know exactly what I did. I got rid of him." 

She smirked, saying, "But he was the only thing keeping you alive…you just unleashed the monster in me…" the marks, still glowing, spread onto her face and her arm. It almost felt like it was beckon, telling Orochimaru where she was, but she didn't care. She felt the same sense of revenge in her chest that Sasuke must have felt, and she understood why he left now. She ran at Kaito too fast to see, smacking him through a wall, and lifted him into the air by his throat. She squeezed it tight, saying, "You deserve every second of this torture…though I have to live with all of these scars…and my curse…" 

That's when she heard Kakashi's familiar voice. "Ayumi! Don't kill him!" She didn't move. "I can't do that, Kakashi-san…he killed him…" Kakashi understood the next moment when Sakura ran to Naruto's body. 

"Ayumi…I remember you saying that revenge was bittersweet…" Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder. "…It won't bring anyone back…" Ayumi's muscles relaxed, but Kaito was still choking. "But…Naru-kun…" Kakashi saw the tears in her eyes, dried on her cheeks, and wiped them away, saying, "I'm sure this is the last thing he would want." She glared at Kaito, and threw him against a wall. The marks glowed, but they didn't return to the seal. "Ayumi…" Ayumi's eyes were filled with bloodlust, something Kakashi never thought he'd see in the innocent white eyes. "Control yourself…" 

That's when a familiar voice reached Ayumi's ears, making the mark recede and happy tears fill her eyes. "Ayu-chan…" "NARU-KUN!!!" she ran to his side, hugging him tight. Naruto's eyes widened as he felt her sobbing against his chest, whispering his name. "Ayu-chan, it's okay…I'm here…" 'I didn't mean to make her worry…' 'But that's exactly what you did! She was heartbroken!' 'I don't need a lecture from you, Kyuubi!' he turned back to comforting Ayumi, and Kakashi sighed, saying, "Well…our mission is complete. We'll leave in the morning." 

All Ayumi remembered was refusing to leave Naruto's side, a fitful sleep, his heartbeat, and the relief as they made it back home…


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

She trained even harder once she got back, and Naruto felt guilty at what Jiraiya wanted him to do. Ayumi had taken a break on the Hokage monument, and Naruto appeared beside her. "Hey, Naru-kun! Came for the view?" He sat down beside her wordlessly, which made her worry. "Is something wrong, Naru-kun?" He looked up at her guiltily, saying, "Jiraiya's taking me on a training trip for a couple years…" "That's good…" He sighed. "But I can't keep in contact with anyone during that time." Ayumi's eyes widened as she said, "So we can't keep in touch…" 

He shook his head apologetically, saying, "I wish I could…" She looked down at the village, her eyes glazed over in thought, as she asked, "When do you leave?" "Tomorrow…" She sighed, leaning on him, as she whispered, "Why do you have to leave…?" "I want to bring back Sasuke for you…I know how much you miss him…" "But I'll miss you, too." He sighed. "But I will definitely be back. I'm not so sure about Sasuke-teme…" She smiled slightly, saying, "I'll wait for you…I promise…" "I hoped you would…" 

She smiled, looking up at him reassuringly. "I remember telling you this before…I never want to be with anybody but you…and I'll never take back those words…" she kissed him softly, innocently, before whispering, "At least you showed me…that my curse can be a blessing…"


End file.
